A.M.G.O.D.

A.M.G.O.D. is another random album in my collection. Back in the day, I listened to "Tears Have No Name" a ton of times. I felt like it was the go-to song to put on a bunch of those "various artists" albums. I give those cds so much credit because I was introduced to so many bands at an early age. "Tears Have No Name" was definitely a song I put on so many burned cds to give to my friends. It was super nostalgic listening to that song again and revisiting this album. Although, I have to say that this was not the welcome I was expecting.

So, while this album gave me nostalgic feelings here and there, I feel like my tastes have changed drastically. This is a very messy album as a whole. It's all over the place as the first two songs have these really repetitious lyrics. The repetition stops and goes into my favorite song on the album, "Tears Have No Name". The song structure on these next five songs are fine. They don't push the boundaries, but lyrically aren't boring by any means. Then to close out the album are two instrumentals. The first instrumental is normal and has a decent sound to it, but then the final song on the album is a straight up six minute electrical song. It's crazy and not something I was expecting. While the song seems completely out of place, I didn't mind it honestly. This is what I'll remember this album for.

The high point for this album is when things just get weird and they start throwing in electric sections to the songs. They surprisingly don't do it enough. I wanted more of that because when those parts came up, it made me pay attention and appreciate how unique it sounded. If it wasn't for those sections, this album would be a bore. Around the 2:45 mark of "Of Devilish Tongues", they just go into straight synth and it brought a different level to the song. There are snippets here and there on the entire album, but as I said definitely not enough.

I have to keep telling myself that this was made in 2001 and to not be so harsh on "A.M.G.O.D. With this current mindset, however, I feel like the album is ultimately boring. It introduces some cool cyber metal elements here and there, but they aren't used enough. When they are used, it's at the ass end of the album and it's a completely different genre. However, I didn't mind that song because it was super different and I appreciated it. Overall, it's a decent album. 13 year old me loved this and I'm glad I got into them enough to purchase the album.

Recs: "White Synthetic Noise", "Tears Have No Name", and "Odious and Devious"

While ...and Oceans is now known for their inability to stick to one moniker and/or style, the most substantial bifurcation in fanbase was a direct result of their first major fluctuation in tone and delivery, notably the partial-disassociation from their early symphonic black metal roots in favor of what is colloquially and commonly labeled as industrial black metal. This is something of a misnomer, because A.M.G.O.D. exhibits a smattering of aesthetics that fall far closer to the somewhat more abstract "cyber metal" tag. Combining such garish and blinding electronics with what is honestly a pretty coherent black metal base puts the band in a comparatively difficult position. This is because the less polished production values begin to tug against the mechanized centrifuge that the keyboards present. A reasonable comparison would be Russia's Illidiance, who shared very similar black metal roots yet opted for a far more streamlined and alternative template with the clean vocals after spitting out Nexaeon, which A.M.G.O.D. most certainly reminds me of.

Enough about that, the question concerning whether or not ...and Oceans can pull the style off is of course a matter of balance, insofar that they refuse to totally commit to either extreme. In hindsight, this is a wise choice, as they don't necessarily lack the chops to hang with the best in either field. Guitars fire off patterns redolent of black metal's flesh-ripping best, glossed over with the occasional death metal groove to amalgamate proceedings. In a way, this isn't too far off from some of Limbonic Art's more "out there" moments post-In Abhorrence Dementia, when Morfeus' creative mind started to do laps around itself. I get a markedly cold and callous vibe from the riffs, which share obsidian gloss with the keyboards; keyboards that deliver more than a few melodic hooks that dig deep while the rhythm section heaves earth on its own. It is definitely an atypical mix, especially for the time, and ...and Oceans have the compositional clout to pull most of it off with flying colors.

Of particular value to me is the late '90s vibe that I get when I listen to A.M.G.O.D., recorded during a time when many keyboard sections were still played by hand instead of blindly assembled by "keyboardist" John Doe using the powerful programming assets available today. From a certain point of view this limits their ability to make a profound impact in isolation, but on examples like "Postfuturistika" it hardly matters once threaded through the metal base. This song deserves special mention not only for the club-accessible synth line it opens with, but the monolithic-sounding keyboard driven blast that begins around the 03:20 mark. Isolating this among other definitively standout moments is hardly difficult, including the swerving grooves that define the middle of the record ("Odious & Devious;" "Of Devilish Tongues") and the instrumental "TBA in a Silver Box," which lets the guitars monopolize the melodies and deliver some moving note progressions.

A.M.G.O.D. had what it would have taken to endear ...and Ocean's music to an entirely new audience of black metal fans with a collectively more open mind, but for some reason this just didn't pan out. One could definitely argue that the uneven production values damage the cybernetic appeal of the music as a whole, but I think that it gives the record some character. Once the tracker-inspired "New Model World" wrapped up, I found myself picking about the remainder of the tunes to relive that cathartic release again. Despite having what may appear to be a rather flimsy stylistic dressing at first blush, the tinny, crashing blastbeats integrate surprisingly well with the record's more garish underbelly, delivering an early example of electronic black metal executed off the beaten path and done well. It is far from perfect and won't convert everyone, but A.M.G.O.D. still holds up for me today. Too bad the band is in a totally different spot now and refuses to reform under this moniker.

Let me start off by stating that I welcome experimentation in music, and that this album sounds unlike anything else I've heard, even other material by the same band. Your mileage is bound to vary with this album, but to paraphrase Beavis And Butthead: even if you think it sucks, it sucks in a way you haven't heard before, so in a way, it's kind of cool. Even after a year and a half of listening to this album, I haven't quite decided where it sits on the "quality" scale... but I do know that I find it strangely compelling.

So what exactly do we have here, this odd little disc in a garishly bright blue case? It's not nu-metal/mallcore, it's too instrumentally complex for that. It's not industrial metal, because the existence of keyboards are about as close as you get in similarities to the likes of Godflesh or Ministry. It's not dance music/techno/trance/whatever other people seem to want to call it, thanks to the heavy reliance on guitars and the general lack of danceability. You might be close if you call it black metal, since it DOES have blastbeats and tremolo-picked riffs with raspy vocals, but even that doesn't feel right. The best genre tag for this album would have to be "avant-garde metal," as vague as that is. It certainly has more in common with Senmuth than Burzum, anyways. I think it's these avant-garde tendencies, the ability to dodge around established genres, that have led to at least some of the negative reviews surrounding this album. Whatever you expect when you pop it in, you're bound to get something else and thus be disappointed.

Further adding to the confusion, the band members themselves seem unsure about what they want out of this album. Some songs, the guitars handle the melody, on others the job is left to the keyboards. The ratio of electronics to guitar likewise varies wildly, even in the same song. Some songs, like "Of Devilish Tongues" feature sections that are purely electronic and others that are purely metal, but then you've got ones like "Tears Have No Name" that almost continuously feature both. Tempos range from "White Synthetic Noise" with its slow, grinding crawl to "Postfuturistika" and its blend of fast rocking sections and hyperspeed blasts.

Many complaints about this album revolve around the use of keyboards. To put it bluntly, that's ridiculous. You might as well be complaining about the use of repetition in minimalist black metal or short song lengths in grindcore. The keyboards are an integral part of this album, and could not be removed without completely destroying the music. The real problem here is just how embryonic it sounds. There are ideas that feel like they never quite got fleshed out properly. The intro to "Intelligence Is Sexy" is a perfect example... some descending chords repeteated a couple times, and then you never hear any reference to it again in the song. Then you've got the lyrics. I like the vocal performance, with the multiple layers and effects that create a rather alien sound very suitable for the album, but those lyrics are pretty abominable. The chorus to "Tears Have No Name" especially stands out to me:

Wet as rain,
I kiss your tears
Tears don't cry
They have no name

WHAT. THE. HELL. I feel like I'm reading some kind of 13 year-old emo kid's attempts at poetry. I understand English isn't these guys' first language, but that's no excuse for the attempted lyrical subject. Not to mention the total nonsense of "tears don't cry." Worse yet, this sort of melancholy doesn't even fit with the mood of the song, which is plenty more energetic and aggressive.

This is an interesting album, to say the least. It has an undeniably unique sound, and a general aesthetic that I would love to hear more of. However, the terrible lyrics and the overall half-baked feel of the ideas drag down my overall enjoyment of the album. I'm still not sure about the ultimate quality of the album, but right from the beginning it's easy to see why it gets such "love it or hate it" reviews. If you want something you haven't heard before, this is definitely worth a listen.

The AMGOD album by ...And Oceans (now called Havoc Unit) is quite unique in all metal releases. I have only seen Kovenant make a techno like album with black metal influence. Frankly ...And Oceans does a better job. People will continue to say its not true metal, but I listen to everything maybe you should open your eyes and get your head out of your ass and do the same.

Track 1 "Tears Have No Name" The techno intro I thought was cool and taking from whispering to a growl was great. The riff in the background in great riding right along with the techno. The drums are driving right through and despite the techno going on I can still headbang. I like the lyrics too, kinda nice from their usual oddities. Good song overall.

Track 2 "Intelligence Is Sexy" The first time I read this I thought "no its not." But I listened and though the intro wasnt amazing when the techno started and all the other instruments followed I was hooked. I liked the drums alot in this song with the transitions but this time around the guitar wasnt that great.
Still a solid track.

Track 3 "White Synthetic Noise" Very cool intro with the death like riff and the double bass kickin in. An ominous kindof cyborg sound goes off in the background too that sounds pretty cool. Then one of the riffs takes off and the drums follow in good speed. Quite a cool track. Plus towards the end of the song is classic with the very rave like beat and the heavy guitar. Cool, very cool.

Track 4 "Esprit De Corps" The song was a little repetitive and the drums were definitely not stellar but kept the song rolling. The chorus though is what got me, a very intense and catchy chorus. A nice breakdown towards the end too. Otherwise not the best track on the album in my opinion.

Track 5 "Odious Devious" A very repetitive track but the drums are blazin fast and very nice. The breakdown with the techno changed it up a bit and had an awesome beat. The song was more enjoyable with the techno but the guitars were lacking because of it. Though props to the guitars half way through for a few fast riffs.

Track 6 "Of Devilish Tongues" Intresting intro, kinda creepy. Cool riff when it starts up and the drum beat that follows is certainly one I love to play.The vocals though did not do it for me really, too wail/complain like. Then half or a bit past is when the song goes to techno and a drum beat. I LOVE THIS BEAT AND GUITAR ON THIS SONG. The vocals change to dark whispering and sounds totally awesome! The problem is the song goes back to the way it was in the start, and kinda bored me. Very cool track though

Track 7 "Postfuturistika" The techno, guitar, drums are all kickass. Very cool song and I liked the title. Nice breakdown near the middle, slow guitar and drums. But dont let go yet the techno starts up and the guitar and drums blast right back in! The song continues and still keeps a quick pace and then slows down again. Keeps you guessing really, excellent track.

Track 8 "Tba In A Silver Box" The beginning of the song is a slow almost medieval organ like sound, but guess what its like that for the whole song. This is the only song I was very unimpressed with. They couldve changed it up AT LEAST once but eh you win some you lose some. Skip this track if you want something more "diverse."

Track 9 "New World Model" A complete techno track which sounds very cool, although there is a woman moaning in the background or something. A secretively sensual track? who knows? Anyway a cool track but if you don't like techno at all just don't listen to this. If you want to hear some beats or somethin new take a shot at it, its rather good.

All in all a 94 is rewarded. A good album to try something new and I like how they took a new direction, because being unique will get you out into the public! Hails to ...And Oceans!

For this album, probably most reviews are all about the synthesizers or the "techno" ... i mean what else could it be.

Without the synthethizers it would be just some average boring metal album. Some say techno can't be mixed with metal. I say you could mix everything with everything if you do it right and this album was far from getting it right. At some parts it sounds like they didnt know what the fuck they were doing. Like if they just got a new synthesizer and wanted to include it on every single track. That fucking bothers me. It just makes them sound stupid.

The first track is a perfect example. It starts with an average guitar and drums intro and then enter a stupid, pointles synth line. That shitty part ruined the whole song for me. It sounds like they pressed a key on their synthesizer with an arpegiator on and just left it there forever. It is just fucking stupid and makes no sense. Some of the synthesizers they use are fine. Tears have no name has a cool synth on it.

They riffs are ok, not too heavy or not too fast, the drums are also ok, I mean forgetable but not boring. As I said before, this album is all about the synths.

I guess the last track, New Model World, bothers the fuck out of everybody and I wish I knew what the hell is that thing doing on the record. Haha, its not even hard techno, it sounds like a fruity loops demo or something.

So, without the synthesizers this album would be just an averge blackmetal-ish band without anything new or interesting on it, but it seems that they've put the synths on for the sole purpose of sounding a little bit different. And they sound different, but that doesn't necessarily means good

This band is amazing. They have managed to mix intelligence, metal, and techno together and made it not sound like ass (see: Fear Factory). I was blown away listening to this album the first time, because I actually did not hate the techno lines and keyboard experimentation, because it FIT with the music. I have since heard people put this band in the genre of “cyborg metal”, a very fitting description.

To say they use keyboards in their music does not mean they soften up at all. Like Nocturnus, this band uses the keyboards to enhance their aggressive sound and bring over the general cold feel of the music. …And Oceans apparently grew from sounding like Dimmu Borgir (I didn’t say this) to become this cross-genre band.

The band starts out with a semi-heavy guitar riff, which soon disintegrates into the first ridiculously catchy keyboard line. The music really explodes near the end of the keyboard phrase, and you’re hooked to the entire album. Now I have heard people say the bass is inaudible on this album, but I beg to differ. The bass is really the loudest instrument, it just gets mistaken for a really heavy guitar. It drives the melody in the first song, adding a kind of evil swing to the main riff. The keyboards support and provide a beautiful melody throughout the album after this.

Beware though… if you are afraid of techno beats, bouncy keyboards (I said bouncy, not happy), and music that has decent production, don’t listen to this album. It is NOT black metal, even though they get pigeonholed due to their vocals and drums, it’s something new. Also the last track is purely techno/trance, so that may not stomach too well for most people.

...And Oceans are one of those bands that have guts to do something really different. While "The Symetry of I - The Circle of O" was awesome, but then again inside the circle of melodic black metal, "Am God" goes further to combining electronic/techno elements, as well as going back to the fast paced old-school black metal. There are few songs combined with death metal (like on their "War..." album). Almost no keyboards, but effects created by computer technology only. Very creepy sounding and very refreshing! I must say I never heard such thing in black metal before! These guys really know what they are doing, and they are doing it good. Production is more than good, except maybe guitars - only if they lowered high-pitch tones everything would be perfect. The sound is more compact and the blastbeats will really give your head much needed headbanging. Amongst all the songs, "Intelligence Is Sexy", "Odious & Devious" and "Esprit de corps" are masterpieces of metal music. This is maybe my subjective opinion, but there songs will simply destroy everything in their way! Melodies are so catchy, no one will resist them. Some Emperor influences here and there, but this is really ...And Oceans' kind of black metal! What's the conclusion then? "Am God" is a must-buy for all dudes who are searching for original and fresh music. This album moves the boundaries of extreme black metal and it deserves to be in your CD collection!

I get the feeling, between reviews that I've read and opinions that I've heard, that this album is very much a love it or hate it album, and I strongly advise that you try to preview this album before you buy it, so you can decide where you fit in. Personally, I fit in the love it category. The main complaints I have heard about the album are the mediocre riffs and the techno elements. This is where the love it or hate it aspect of the album comes in. If you enjoy listening to techno, electronica, dance music, whatever it is you want to call it, chances are you will enjoy this album. Though I can't do anything but agree that some of the riffs are lacking, the keyboards greatly make up for them; there are parts ("White Synthetic Noise" in particular) where a techno rythm replaces any sort of riff at all.

An added perk to this album, if you like techno, is the final track, "New Model World." This track is entirely techno, absolutely no guitar to it at all. It's an excellent track, though I must say I was disappointed that it ended the album (sorry, but metal albums should be wrapped up with metal, not techno, not a ballad, nothing like that). Both because of and in spite of this track, the album is great.

All in all, a preview of this album is an absolute must, simply because of the love it or hate it aspects. If you can't, I guess this is about the only thing I can really do to help you: if you like techno, by all means get this album, but if you don't, stay away.

Now, this album had its good points, and it had its bad points- any album does. Only so much can be said, but here the good outways teh bad greatly.

Now while the old work of this band is still better and probably always will be, this is still very good. Complex drumming when you consider that its alot less Black than their old music was, and even moreso when you consider its industrial. The guitar riffs build alot less then the drumming does, and overall aren't as impressive, but still manage to be pretty heavy during bits and pieces.

The drumming, as mentioned, is still good, using some nice double bass, and builds patterns up that fit with everything, but still they aren't as fast as they could be. Think however, that this album didn't want to call for anythign like that. This called for some nice work, and thats what was put forth.

Now the vocals on the other hand... they used to be good, they are bad now, but right here they're... somewhere in between. When looking into tracks like Odious & Devious, they really do shine. Done in a post-black voice of sorts, they sound different, and this band shows in all, that they ARE different, constantly varying their styles, constantly doing different, sometimes weird things, and they never stay the same.

The synths are used to full extent here, and show off the power of the keyboards in this band, creating once again a wall of sound in a few songs, and a mediocre showing of catchiness in others. They help stitch pieces of the album together, and do so well and enjoyably.

My complaint lies within the fact that sometimes the riffs get boring. Laying all technicality to rest in this part, from pure listening, you see that here and there it is the same as there and whereever else. Not always, becasue sometimes they are original and varied enough to keep clever, but only in a couple tracks does this get in the way, any bit.

This here is a ride. Like something from a theme park, where the "theme" is "do something weird, different and cool." This ride is deep, twisty, it goes thru tunnels and does it all at night. Hauntingly beautiful to summarize it. Get it, its a real nice change from everything else.

Okay, so it's another one of those techno-experimental/whatevercore bands. Okay, I've heard Devin Townsend, so how could this be any different?

Well, it turns out a whole lot. These guys seem to be coming from everywhere at once, trying to cram 680 different genres into their music. It's like taking symphonic black metal, dumping some techno dance beats on it, adding a pinch of Devin Townsend's crappier songs, and a dash of darkwave, and taking a shit on it. The result is complete and utter boredom. This album is so BORING! Bad, toneless vocals, weak riffs, sleep-inducing ambient parts...and too much of it.

First of all, this guy couldn't put emotion into his singing if his nuts were on fire. His entire performance is halfhearted and pathetic, even when he attempts to sound decent. Second, there aren't any real riffs to speak of. At times you get this thing that kinda, sorta, resembles a thrash riff, and you start to think "oh man, finally something I can headbang to!" and then it falls flat on its face with more of those techo-ambient keyboards. That's the other thing, sometimes, it's almost-half-decent symphonic metal, then they go straight into this pseudo-atmospheric pace and just fuck around for a while, then resume letting the singer sigh his way through the almost-thrashy guitars. Dammit, metal isn't about taking away a halfway-decent guitar section and replacing it with two solid minutes of ambient trype!

Let's look at the song Tears Have No Name. It starts off with this crappy techno keyboard solo, then moves into these apathetic vocals over some guitars that could be considered thrashy if compared to Rush or something. Some stupid whispering over more techno keyboards, then, oh, back to the main section! Which is then repeated with little variation in the "riffs". It sounds pretty much the same until the end, with maybe a little keyboard overlay somewhere. Lather, rinse, repeat. And you have A.M.G.O.D. in a nutshell right there.

This shit is boring as hell. I can't understand why anyone would voluntarily listen to this. Go get some fucking Covenant if you want symphonic metal, and stay as far the fuck away from this steaming mass as humanly possible.