A Call to Arms

I'm not quite sure if this band is still active or not, because we haven't really heard anything new from Gospel of the Horns in few years now. And the last full length album "Realm of the Damned" came out in 2007, which is just too fuckin long for me. I consider Gospel of the Horns as one of the most worthy beasts of the Australian orthodox extreme metal scene, who may have never reached the fame of Destroyer666, but certainly are equally good. And very similar musically, which I don't think is a shame to say. But as I mentioned, Gospel of the Horns are not too active, when speaking of the material they release. They did only two albums through these 25 years of band's existence. My personal favourite is their debut - a vicious and utterly bestial dose of black / thrash under the title "A Call to Arms".

This quite short record works for me perfectly. The length is absolutely right, as this way you get everything the best bands such as GOTH can serve and everything is packed tightly to burst out with merciless force and pure, sadistic aggression. There's no time to be wasted for anything unnecessary, so you will hear just fantastic traditional metal riffs, dressed in killer, harsh and morbid production. The vocals are nasty, riffs are so sharp that they cut through your flesh easily... and when I play this album, I just bang my head without giving a shit about anything. Yes I know that it sounds infantile, but this is exactly how you will feel, when playing such kind of music - you will bang your fuckin head, swallow its aggression and power and get all this negative feel, which somehow turns into something positive, because this album makes me a happy metalhead haha! Fuck that though, there are seven awesome songs, each of them sounds absolutely great and kicks hard. It is obvious that Gospel of the Horns sounds a lot like Destroyer666, but they have nothing to worry - their music is defending itself from start to finish. Songs like "The Trial of Mankind" are like a black / thrashing anthem; slower, obscure, yet catchy due to its simplistic and memorable riffage. But there are also fast motherfuckers, which slay completely like "Chaos Bringer", an awesome opening track, which is just fantastic! The whole album is a bunch of deadly, vicious black / thrash metal and I cannot find anything to complain about. Strongly recommended... if you've never had a chance to hear it, please do your homework, get a copy asap. And enjoy this shit!

Standout tracks: "Chaos Bringer", "The Trial of Mankind", "A Call to Arms"
Verdict: 85/100

Gospel of the Horns: these guys have been around for quite a while in the Australian scene. After releasing their initial demo in 1994, the band broke up, only to reform soon after and start releasing more material. Fast foward to 2002, when the band finally releases their debut album.

What makes this band so great from their Australian counter-parts? Easy: they've made their own flavour. While these guys are identifiable as an Australian act, and certain have some traces of Destroyer 666 (like quite a lot of bands do, which I am not complaining about), they've tweaked and evolved enough since their early beginnings that they sound different. Vocally this band is really recognizable, and in terms of guitar work and structure, they also have crafted something that is their own.

The album opens up with "Chaos Bringer", which demonstrates very well what this album is about: Aussie thrash riffs, deadly solos, furious lyrics, with a tinge of rock and roll feel. One will tell right away that these guys are proficient with their instruments, but focus more on song writing than showing off technical abilities. At times, riffs are simple, but are played with such conviction and tightness that one cannot help but headbang. Other times we'll get quick, speedy riffs with scissor blastbeats that will snap your neck. Or maybe the Gospel will slow things down.

The album rips along, with "Vengeance is Mine" being pretty noticeable, especially with that lyrical hook. That song has some wicked scissor blasts with its riffing madness, but proves to be pretty coherent and tight, therefore maintaining proper momentum. Juxtaposed to this song is "Slaves", a mid paced rocker that'll break the album up pretty nicely.

Everything about this album is fantastic. Marauder and Masochist are superb guitar players, and do lead trade offs that are really well executed. What I really enjoy about the solos on this album are is that they have a sense of purpose. A lot of bands throw in ripping solos so often that it just seems like a novelty. Here, these guys make riffs that will scream out for a good solo. Very Destroyer 666 like.

I find this album to be a relatively big influence on my own playing, it's just that damn good. I think this is their best work to date, although the EP prior to this is just as good. Hopefully the band will continue to go strong for years, because they've got a lot going for them.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Contrary to recent reviews of this album, I personally have no desire to have oral intercourse with any member of this band...I simply enjoy their music. Thank you.

Given how enamored I was of this Aussie band’s 1999 debut mini-LP, my hopes for their first full-length albums were high indeed. Fortunately they rewarded my evil little heart with a real gem. Very much in line with the old school black/death metal they’d previously churned up, Gospel Of The Horns (one of my favorite monikers in extreme metal, I just gotta say…) hone and sharpen their spear-points here, adding a second guitarist to the fray and penning another assortment of songs that are (pay attention here, this is important) very much in the band’s own style. The raw, high-pitched throat shredding of bassist Howitzer leads the stampede, firing the thrashy cum mid-tempo songs here forward, ever forward.


“Chaos Bringer” is a great opening blast, but “Absolute Power” trumps it with its old school approach and relentless riffing. The consistency here is actually quite amazing, as even on the slower, more epic themed closing cut “The Trial Of Mankind,” the band’s now signature riff and song building style stands tall. Couple that with a nice, full sound job (similar to their debut but a shade more filled out) and my quota for assessing a great album are pretty much filled out.


I especially recommend this band’s work to those elder black ‘n death metalheads who find themselves polarized by both genres’ current dive bomb trips into ever-greater extremity, both in lyrical and/or musical terms. GOTH remind us that there was a time when bands in this style thought writing killer songs was just as important as scaring the ears of their audiences. We could always use a bit more of that.

So I've been noticing that most Australian metalheads have moved into the "let's endlessly fellate Gospel Of The Horns" phase. I downloaded this album to see what the fuss was all about and was served up with a seven track steaming pile of bullshit.

So what've we got here? Some pretty damn mediocre, mid-paced black/thrash without the aggression or fun. The only thing that exists on this album is kvlt tomfoolery with no direction a-la Deathcrush, only without the aggression .. and fun.

I told my friend what I thought, and he replied with "So what if they're not innovative or original? They know what they do and they do it well," uh, the fact of the matter is, they don't really do it well.

It's full of shitty, mediocre riffing that carries on for far too long, the formula for any given song seems to be:

Riff 1
Lead
Riff 1
Lead
Riff 1
Solo
Riff 1

So, yeah, as you might be able to tell from that there, this album gets fucking repetitive quick.

The vocals seem to be your standard black affair, nothing different in this department...

And the drumming, the drumming is one redeeming point on this album. The drummers know what the fuck he's doing. It never really goes over-the-top as with most black metal and thrash metal, and it's not too fast and it's sure as hell not too slow. A lot of meat beats, though.

Bass doesn't even get a spotlight in this album anywhere, it's buried underneath the shit that is the riffing.

Oh, the other redeeming point. The solo in track 2, yeah. Actually, despite track 2 ("Absolute Power") being the same riff repeated for 3:16 breaking only for a quick lead, it's actually a decent song. And yes. The solo is nice.

That's all. Steer clear of this band. Please.

Artist - Gospel of the Horns
Title - A Call to Arms
Label - Invictus

This is the first full-length album from this Australian black/thrash metal band, after a number of well-received demos and MCDs.

The guitar tone here alternates between chugging and a high, sharp sound that really brings out the occasional solo. Drums are low in the mix, but still perfectly audible, with a good deal of cymbal rather than bass, contributing to the biting tone of the songs. Vocals are especially noteworthy. They're snarled with a good deal of feeling, and perfectly understandable.

Thanks to Gospel of the Horns' excellent songwriting, their classic, thrashing Aussie black metal sound is in full effect on "A Call to Arms". These tunes are heavy and hateful, yet still catchy enough to stand up to repeated listening. This is one of those rare albums that sounds just as good the hundredth time as it did on the first.

The intelligible vocals are an important detail, given the strong ideological content of the lyrics. This album displays some of the best lyrical work I've ever heard. These words are clever, to the point, and viciously blasphemous, just as metal lyrics should be. In fact, this album's indictment of Christianity is perfectly clear from just one listen, even without a scrap of supporting art or text. That kind of clarity is a rare thing in black metal, and valuable, too - how can anti-Christian propaganda succeed if it cannot be easily understood?

"A Call to Arms" is more than worthy of my highest recommendations. This album is an essential purchase for any fan of black/thrash, and a treasured possession for those whose spirit is reflected in the lyrics. "An iron will is the will to succeed", indeed!

Standout Tracks - "Chaos Bringer", "Powers of Darkness", "The Trial of Mankind"

Review by Vorfeed: http://www.vorfeed.net

After a lengthy wait, one of Oz's best bands have finally released their first full-length. Though it took 10 years to materialize, it was worth the wait. The albums starts off with a morose intro mixing dark synths with samples of thunder, lightning and rain. Then, shifting right into gear, "Chaos Bringer" begins the sonic assault - throwing some hard-hitting black/death right in your face. The second track (which starts off with the title quote) displays the more thrash-influenced metal many extreme Oz bands tend to display. With a simple rhythmic riff, "Absolute Power" definitely gets you headbanging. Track 3 - "Vengeance is Mine" - returns to the fast metal hybrid, and utilizes a great reoccuring yell of the song's title. There are so many highlights on A Call to Arms - from the spoken warning of "Slaves", to the excellent instrumental title track, to the guitar work of Marauder and Masochist. After a short but sweet run-through, we come to "The Trial of Mankind" - a 7 minute hymn to the final judgement of god, and to the death and rebirth of the earth. Afterwhich comes a morose outro with the final warning: 'For an iron will is the will to succeed..."

Hailing from downunder, Gospel Of The Horns have existed for roughly a decade, yet A Call To Arms is their debut full length. Unstable lineups seem to be the main cause of this lack of prolifacy, but it was certainly worth the wait. Blasting away in the finest tradition of Mortal Sin, Hobbs Angel Of Death, Destroyer 666 and Bestial Warlust (where some of the band's members first cut their teeth, in fact I have it on good authority that the drummer Hellcunt was once in HAOD), A Call To Arms is a rock-solid slab of blackened thrash at it's finest.

The opening assault "Chaos Bringer" erupts from a gloomy buildup into some slamming blastbeats, then settles into a headbanging pace and switches back and forth between these two approaches. The vocals rasp out a manifesto of destruction over this pummeling assault, while the guitars and bass are quite astonishing. This is old-school motherfucking metal, with plenty of solo's and tasty licks abounding throughout. "Absolute Power" is even more of a thrasher, a veritable kick in the face in fact, while "Vengeance Is Mine" quite simply rocks my socks off.

The title track is the odd one here - an instrumental, but overall it kinda sounds like a song that they forgot to record vocals on. It's still great, but it could use a few more lead breaks to really kick it into gear. No matter, as the album's closing track "The Trial Of Mankind" is an epic 7 minute scorcher that hammers in the final nails of metallic bloodshed. Then after a quick reprise of the intro, it's all over, a mere 33 minutes of music. Too short, especially for a debut that look 10 years to materialize, but no matter. It just forces you to hit the repeat button.

A special mention also goes to the album's production. Often, these newer Aussie bands tend to go for a sound which buries everything under the drums and turns the guitars into a squalling muffled racket. Not in this case, though - this thing is recorded as dry as old bones, raw as fuck yet clear enough so every nuance of the music is heard. Much in the tradition of classic 80's thrash albums, this forces the musicians to play with absolute precision and skill to avoid sounding sloppy. And you can bet your balls this is precise, yet the feeling of looseness as a means of conveying a "don't give a fuck, we'll kill you" atmosphere is fully maintained. Quite an achievement to say the least. All hail the Horned Gospel!