Review of God Forbid - Determination

With God Forbid coming to town shortly, it only seems fitting to lay down the phat dissection on their latest release Determination. Which leads me right to their biography via Century Media's site. Could they tire the fact anymore that four of the five members are black? Who gives a shit? As long as they of course, don't rap and do play some pretty damn crushing metal. I could care less if they were green with yellow stripes. Was this some keen strategy to break into the black market? Shameless indeed…. Sell, sell, and sell. Determination does in fact lay down the groove crush smackath. Powerful speed to groove transitions that make your head nod with an angry smirk. I will have to insist spouting the evil horns to compliment your current metal choreography. Combine the horns with the head nod and angry smirk while keeping time to a punishing tune like Network and your friends are guaranteed to marvel at you metal disposition. Quite possibly calling you "King Metal" or even "Major Metal" of the 14th battalion. All the while earning you free 16oz cans of Budweiser and Marlboro reds. Because they know it will be years before they can nail such tedious antics. God Forbid's sound on Determination is not completely made up of the speed-groove crush delivery. It is just one element they do pretty goddamn good. There are plenty of speed assaults that are just as punishing as the groove. The overall guitar tone throughout is damn thick. With leads well thought out pressuring the impact with harden balance. Corey Pierce's strengthened drum performance fits the mood perfectly. Kicks that boast and fills that roast. (hah, what the fok is that?) Byron Davis's vocals fit superbly. Anger mixed with sincerity, a lethal combination. Bottom Line: I look forward to seeing God Forbid live in February. The combinations of speed, groove, and clean they have perfected will boldly beat any venue down like a bug that 's been sprayed with raid. God Forbid is a great American Band from Jersey. Oh ya and four fifths of the band are black.

So much metal...so little time. That seems to be my state of mind these days. So much so, that I had to take a couple of days off of work just to gather my thoughts...and to inject some metal into my veins. One can only get in so much pure listening pleasure in a working environment, so I saw no other choice but to binge at home. As I'm writing this dissection I can boastfully say that I'm thoroughly enjoying a 5-disc rotation of Emperor, Cradle Of Filth, Lacuna Coil, Katatonia and Soilwork. What an odd assortment of bands, nevertheless, it is quite enjoyable. Onward to The Prophet's feature this week, God Forbid's Determination. I first heard of this band when I read a review on them about nine months ago. It wasn't the greatest review, but it wasn't all that punishing either. The words intrigued me enough that I made my way over to the local music store and picked this release up. After just the first two or three songs I was immediately pleased I did so. With a tenacious sound quality that is as powerful as any production on any release that I picked up last year, this was probably the most notable factor right from the start. The second thing that struck me as being strange was the ultimately melodic passages throughout each song. I couldn't help but be in awe over a band that resides in the States (New Jersey) sounding so Europeanized. This is by no means a blow to God Forbid; as a matter of fact it should be taken as the ultimate compliment. We all know the state in which most American metal lies: brutal, fast and most importantly non-melodic. I've said it before and I'll say it a thousand more times. Melody is the key... The lyrics on Determination are as angry as any out there and are one of the qualities dubbing them as a metal-core band. Complimenting the melodic progressions I spoke of earlier is the fusing of double bass driven speedy riffs with drop of a dime time changes keeping the listener sucked in from beginning to end. The other quality giving them melodic metal-core status is the hardcore breakdowns each song contains. All of my favorite elements exist on this disc. When I hear the choruses in these songs the first word to come to mind is "catchy". I know this word has been thrown around non-stop for years upon years and at many times it may be a negative aspect of a band's music. Make no mistake, these songs are catchy but this is by no means a bad thing. When I think of catchy I think of songs that remain playing in my head after each listen. This album does that for me and it will do it for anyone who listens to it. Does catchiness = cheese? Not on Determination! I've passed up the chance to see God Forbid twice now and I kick myself every time I think about it. They are coming to town soon with Ultra-Gore-Metallers Gwar (the pioneers of gore-metal) and providing I get my ass out to that show I'll let you all know what I thought. I can only imagine it will be as crushing as this release and maybe even more so. At any rate, God Forbid along with Shadows Fall are, in my opinion, leading the way for all American melodic death-metal/metal-core bands. Maybe they're tired of seeing Sweden kick the shit out of us for the past six or seven years; maybe they don't care. Either way they've put out an exceptional release in Determination and I strongly urge every metalhead to experience the quality of this band's powerful metal music. Favorite Tracks: Determination Pt. 1 and Pt. 2

Release Details

God Forbid

Determination

Comments

Related