God Forbid: Earthsblood Album Review
An Excellent Fifth Outing from the Coyle Brothers & Co
Apr 17, 2009
Hands up everybody who saw this one coming?
Back in 2004 when God Forbid released Gone Forever, they were largely considered to be a decent American band who packed a few good tunes, but were ultimately overshadowed by their peers. Five years later and Shadows Fall are struggling against a glass ceiling, Killswitch Engage hit a hurdle with their disappointing fourth album and Caliban have all but vanished.
Not so God Forbid, for Earthsblood is easily the best album they have ever made and shows them evolving beyond the confines of a scene they helped create. This is no straightforward collection of verse-chorus-verse songs designed for MTV rotation, but a body of artistic beauty that has been painstaking crafted note by note from the ground up.
There Will Be Earthsblood
Inspired heavily by the Paul Thomas Anderson movie There Will Be Blood, it isn't a concept-album in the traditional sense, but it carries an overall theme of globalisation threatening the world throughout, much like Gojira did on The Way Of All Flesh. It isn't as darkly punishing of course, but is definitely a step closer to the likes of Dream Theatre, Pain Of Salvation and Isis than say, Hatebreed.
Indeed, if Earthsblood could be pigeonholed, "progressive-metalcore" wouldn't be a misleading tag. The songs ebb and flow between brutal fusillades of anger and soaring melodic highs yes, but the arrangements and structures are a lot more complex than before. Tracks regularly exceed six minutes and have acoustic passages, breakdowns and spiralling solos sitting happily alongside each other.
Modern American Metal: God Forbid
The best part of this is that while Earthsblood might be the sort of album to make beret-wearing avante garde types stroke their beards and mutter "fascinating" at cleverly-timed intervals, it still rocks like a monster. Empire Of The Gun is a precision weapon begging to be fired at the summer festivals where every second can be lapped up by eager crowds. Walk Alone meanwhile proves they have lost none of their songwriting flare and Shallow is another barnstormer.
If there's a problem with Earthsblood it's that there's so much to take in, listening to it can be an overwhelming experience. Some may be turned off by the sheer density of it all, but ultimately this a terrific album. God Forbid have matured from just another band to become pack leaders and delivered a record that is atmospheric, beautiful and harsh in equal measure. And it leaves As Daylight Dies in the dust.
