Ravenous

2009's 'Passiondale' saw God Dethroned achieve the success they have long deserved. Granted, nothing in their discography could ever be considered ground-breaking, but they have always been consistent and dependable. Each album being a quality exercise in thrashy, blackened death metal with great use of melody in both the riff and solo departments. 'Ravenous', to my ears, is where this comes together almost perfectly.

Songs like 'Poison Apple', 'Villa Vampira' and 'The Crown For The Morbid' are high speed, intense slabs of extremity that sound like actual SONGS, something that's often lacking in the heavier end of modern day metal. These songs are well written, well arranged and are just as catchy as they are furious.
Diversity isn't forgotten amongst the blasting. A cover of Macabre End's 'Consumed By Darkness', which is superior to the original, gives a nice gloomy break to the preceding tracks - as does the mid-paced 'The Iconoclastic Deathride' which comes close to a traditional metal styled tune. Intro and outro always remind me of Type O Negative for some reason. Maybe the keyboards?

Henri's rasping, venomous snarl of a voice is as always, present and very much correct. His enunciation is excellent making the lyrics easily understandable without having to read along. Lyrically however, some clumsily written passages show through and there is a little too much repetition in certain songs. This is common and understandable if we're talking about a bridge or chorus, but verses repeated, sometime more than twice? This is only a minor issue.

Individual performances are excellent. Henri and Jens play off each other well in the solo department, the former going for the chaos-lead approach, the latter a more melodic and catchy style. Session drums are performed by Tony Laureano, who we should all know of his abilities and resume by now, so no surprises regarding the drums. Bass is unfortunately non existent in the mix, which leads me to my main problem with this album: The production.

Lack of bass aside, the sound is very clear. It's refreshing that minimal, if any triggers are used on the drums, but it all just lacks punch and bottom end. It doesn't ruin the impact, but it does weaken it a bit.
The other negative, which is again, minor: Two covers on a 40 minute album? While their take on Death's 'Evil Dead' as the album's final track is well done, we already have the previously mentioned Macabre End cover which better fits the flow and feel of the album perfectly. Also, the dark and doomy 'Autumn Equinox/Winter Campaign Parts 1 and 2' would have made an ideal ending. In other words, its an unnecessary inclusion, unless we're talking bonus tracks.

So there you have it. Occasionally dodgy lyrics, a production that lacks some depth and one cover too many. Well, I did say that it was almost perfect..........

This was the first and only GOD DETHRONED album I'd picked up, one of those occurances where the artwork and packaging drew me (sometimes it works to judge a book by its cover). I bought it, brought it home and gave it a good, honest listen. And at best, I found it mild and somewhat enjoyable, but didn't throw me for a loop.

Brutality is a bit lacking in this compact disc, something that is to be in abundance within the death metal world. However, the more melodic meanderings are still considered tasty and ear-pleasing nonetheless. The band (at the time) plays as a cohesive unit, tightly wound as they plug along their primitive wares with nary any reckless abandon to be found, with the twin guitar attacks with a modicum of fury and Tony's quite impressive drumwork keeping the pace at as best a gallop as the compositions call for. Taking into account tracks like "Villa Vampiria", "The Crown for the Morbid" and "The Mysteries That Make You Bleed" GOD DETHRONED carry out chunks of medium-rare metal that grab your attention...for a little while. But far too often on this disc fillers stick out like proverbial sore thumbs making you long for the skip button ("The Poison Apple" and "The Christhunt" being prime examples), as the performance and overall delivery don't deliver as well as it should.

So in the end this is an OK-at-best disc that would appeal to the GOD DETHRONED fanbase mostly. However, a few good songs amidst a dank swamp of filler does not a great album make. Thumbs middle.

I can't believe no one has reviewed this CD yet! Fools!

God Dethroned play a hybrid combination of death metal and black metal and are highly successful at making that blend. It seems that they know exactly when to pick it up and destroy the listener with death metal like intensity and when to let the music build melodically. If you are unfamiliar with this band I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you check them out.

"Ravenous" is the pinnacle in the God Dethroned catalog of albums. Like their previous efforts this CD remains true to their death/black style. Also like their other albums, "Ravenous" is filled with outstanding riffs, passionate harmonies and great drumming courtesy of Tony Loreano.

"Ravenous" is a cut above the rest for one simple reason. Every song is simply great. I don't know how they did it; if it was a conscious decision or not, but every song on this record is good. Wait, not just good: every song exceeds the average. From the opener "Swallow the Spikes" to their crushing closer, a high-speed cover of Death's "Evil Dead", "Ravenous" evokes some kind of emotional response from the listener for it's entire duration.

There's also something else about this CD. I can't really prove it, but it just seems like they really tried. Their effort to write a great CD (was it because Tony Loreano was doing session drums for them?) somehow comes across on this record. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!