Rise Of The Fallen Gods
Blood Of Angels
•
June 6, 2017
This is the first release by the Jacksonville Florida Death Metal Band. This is just a glimpse of what they can do, being it's a three song EP. I have to admit that I wanted more from this band, three songs was just not enough, I wanted more songs, more material and that my friends is a really positive sign from a band. They are virtually unknown, I wasn't able to find much information on the band but at least from what I gather, they are a very serious band that has what it takes to take it to the next level.
We have had iconic Death Metal bands coming out of the beautiful state of Florida like DEICIDE, MORBID ANGEL, OBITUARY and CANNIBAL CORPSE. I thought it was awesome to see other bands from that state following in the footsteps are the forefathers of the genre. They definitely took some inspiration from these bands and it shows on this nice release. Taking the late 80's sound of the genre but with some very good production. I mean back then, those bands didn't have the technology available but nowadays band have access to to some great technology. The production value on this EP is really good and a good production always augments the value of an album in my honest opinion.
I like the fact that they didn't talk about mutilation, violence or putrefaction for once. They spoke about Norse Mythology and I felt it was a nice change of pace. You can always catch my attention when you talk about ancient history because I majored in History in my last year in University. Anyways, enough talking about me...
The vocalist doesn't use a guttural style, you actually can understand most of what he is singing even though he uses those gruff vocals! I like this and it's been a major pet peeve of mine throughout the years. The lyrics are fine, being they talk about Odin, Loki and the gods and perceptions of that mythology. As for ''The Final War'', I wasn't sure if they were talking about that time period or about that famous Final War between Antony and Octavius, the last of the Roman Civil Wars. Nonetheless, I thought the fact that they decided to talk about other lyrical themes was a nice departure from most of the bands in the genre.
On the first song ''Miscreant Deeds of Loki'', they show a more technical side. It has some nice guitar work and was much more complex that a lot of bands I have been hearing these days. It has some nice rhythm changes and some really solid drumming. That drumming is brutal and relentless, props to Kevin Phillips who does a magnificent job throughout the EP. On ''Odin's Wrath'', they add some New Wave of British Heavy Metal sounds at the beginning. I felt like I was listening to old school JUDAS PRIEST, in the "Painkiller" era. I really enjoyed this and I was not expecting this at all, then the songs turns more like a prototypical Death Metal song. The opening itself really made me love this song even more. The last song of the EP is a pretty standard Death Metal song, it doesn't reinvent the wheel but it sure does get your blood boiling. It's energetic, frantic and full of awesome riffs and intense drumming. It's nothing I haven't heard before but it's still better than 90% of the new bands out there in the stale genre!
Overall, it's a solid release by an up and coming band.
8 / 10
Excellent
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Rise Of The Fallen Gods" Track-listing:
1. Miscreant Deeds of Loki
2. Odin's Wrath
3. The Final War
Blood Of Angels Lineup:
Aaron Robinson - Guitar
Michael Stewart - Bass
Chris Iibucha - Vocals
Kevin Phillips - Drums
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