"Battle Lords"
Moribund Cult Records
As the immortal Voivod once said, "RRROOOAAARRR!!!!!" The nucleus of Rhode Island's (also home to Lightning Bolt, mind you) Godless Rising is Jeff Gruslin and Paul Flynn, both formerly of Vital Remains, presumably having ditched that outfit to create something even more antisocial and sacreligious. Good news! They've succeeded! Godless Rising are an inexorable charge of amphetamined death-metal overkill. Visions of Angelcorpse, Deicide, Bolt Thrower and Suffocation dance in my head whilst I'm being pummeled by "Battle Lords'" enthusiastic lack of finesse and spike-gloved bodyblows. What you gets is a taut whirlwind of Satanic speedkicks and complex riff breakdowns collaged together for maximum discomfort, dual lead guitar acrobatics with gurgling high/low (Benton-esque) vocals that relish each slurred blasphemy and "what the hell? Is this real?" typewriter quick drums. The vibe is meant to summon forth classic death metal witchery, but the sound is surprisingly modern. Music like this is meant to divide. Fuck. Yes.
In an age of religious extremism, are dath metal musicians the new humanists? Or the last line of age of enlightenment, secular defense? Discuss.
-Matthew Moyer
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