God Forbid – Earthsblood

God Forbid recently released their fifth studio album entitled EARTHSBLOOD. God Forbid have for many years oscillated between metal and hardcore sounds without however inclining towards either of the two. EARTHSBLOOD is their first pure metal album, with clearly stronger sounds than any of their previous albums, which can give us a much more solid idea of what the band is capable of.

Overall the tracks are well placed – giving us a melodic intro-track in the beginning (“The Discovery”), escalating smoothly towards stronger sounds, reaching the ultimate peak-point with “Earthsblood” right before giving us a sense of wholeness with “Gaia” at the end. This album is the most melody-based album ever released by God Forbid, which can be viewed both as a pro and a con. Honestly, I hate the melodic parts of EARTHSBLOOD, with the exception of “War of Attrition” – a track that I absolutely adore!!! Solid sound, incredible rhythm, catchy riffs and melodic singing accompanied by hard guitar playing compose the greatest track of EARTHSBLOOD for me.

Even though the tracks in total are more or less average in terms of innovation, the album in total gains a lot production-wise. Christian Olde Wolbers – former bassist and current guitarist of Fear Factory – obviously did a wonderful job co-producing EARTHSBLOOD. His contribution is much vivid in tracks such as “War of Attrition”, “Walk Alone” and “Bat the Angels” – the three tracks that I believe contribute greatly to the overall quality of EARTHSBLOOD.

Honestly, this is not one of my favorite albums. But I have to give them credit for the effort and the fact that it’s something totally new for God Forbid. At the same time, it shows us the potential that this band has to be classified as one of the most prominent – even though not so mainstream – metal bands of our time. I’m not a God Forbid fan, but some of the tracks of EARTHSBLOOD are definitely memorable and provide high-quality music which contributes greatly to the total outcome.