Downtempo is a genre that has been on the rise for some years now (approximately since 2012), with quite a few bands popping out in these years. Some had an easier time standing out, be it because of pure talent, be it because they were the first of the scene. Achieving uniqueness is no easy task just because of the nature of this genre that doesn’t give you much to experiment with. FILTH is one of the more talented bands to pop out and earlier this year they hit us with their sophomore EP, “God Has A Plan”.
So “God Has A Plan” feels like when you eat your favorite food every day, and you fuckin love it for a good period of time, then it periodically starts getting more and more underwhelming as you start craving for something different. Just a dissimilar taste so the food you used to love so much regains some of its lost value after having it every day.
“Judging from their potential God sure has a plan for them and it looks bright.”
The way this applies in FILTH’S release is that while the world-ending breakdowns are amazing and they make me wanna hurt people, they happen so often that they stop getting surprising. It’s literally almost all there is. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for slams and breakdowns that hit as hard as FILTH’S, but some variation is needed in order to give them value and substance. Otherwise it’s a very fun listen. It has good riffs, absolutely BEASTLY vocals, some great guest appearances in ΤΗΕ BLACK DAHLIA MURDER’s Trevor Strnad and OCEANO’s Adam Warren and some pretty sick tunes with “Fatalist” being my favorite.
Regarding the mix, It’s not the best I’ve heard in a downtempo album but it’s not the worst either, It just feels everything is more compressed that it should in order to give those chugs their for full velocity. Those bass drops are really tasty though and I love those little atmospheric synths on the background that are heard occasionally.
So are FILTH different than most of the downtempo bands? Naah, not really, they still have a long way to go in order to be distinct in this sea of bands that keeps getting deeper. Are they a solid downtempo band though? Most certainly, and “God Has A Plan” proves that. If you’re a fan of bands like BLACK TONGUE, TRAITORS and IMMORALIST you should definitely check this EP out. Judging from their potential God sure has a plan for them and it looks bright.