The Turns

Listening to Gods Tower is a truly unique experience. Seeing as how they formed way back in 1992 you can't help but wonder if there is anything left to do in metal that is completely original. Gods Tower has left a lasting impression of greatness, crafting masterful pagan/folk/doom metal like nothing else.

The simple essence of Gods Tower is to combine soaring/melodic guitar leads, usually with chords underneath, with rhythmic (sometimes tribal) drumming and excellent, varied vocals. Every member of Gods Tower is obviously a skilled musician, down the the usually forgotten bass player, who is almost always audible and playing interesting stuff.

The riffs of Gods Tower work extremely well, but are usually played in a conventional structure. Leads over rhythm, simple as that. The leads are soaring and melodic, yet there is something folksy to them. In this, I don't mean folk metal-folksy or even folk music-folksy; they are just too "soaring". They evoke mental images of vast, green fields and hills. The rhythm used underneath (and occasionally primary riff) is best described as doomy and heavy. Palm-muting is utilized, yet they riffs have no death metal quality about them. They just fit in exceptionally well.

The vocalist is a huge part of what gives Gods Tower their sound. He can switch between whispered vocals, clean/melodic vocals (complementing and sometimes following the leads), and growled/yells. Every aspect of his approach is skillfully handled, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had received some sort of formal training.

"The Turns" should be considered an underappreciated classic. This was a clear improvement upon "The Eerie", which was a great album in itself, but suffered some problems. I found "The Turns" to be immensely enjoyable, like nothing else there is out there. Standout tracks being "Twilight Sun" and "An Eye for an Eye", as both exhibit every aspect Gods Tower did well. Find and buy this, then spread the word- it's well deserved.

This is a truly unique album that was made by one of the best (if not the best) bands of all post-USSR area. These guys just did two albums (this one and "The Eerie") that proves the fact that not only well-produced bands with good financial support and great studios can make just such a piece of art.

Their style is often described as "pagan traditional doom metal". I say they were a unique band combines pagan metal in vein of Bathory viking era, traditional heavy and doom metal and, a bit of epic metal too. Slow, perfect heavy riffing, strong vocals, long epic songs with beautiful solos and an atmosphere that can simply blow you away...

The opening track, "I Am Raven" is one of the best songs i've heard.
It has these pagan motives and guitars are makin' an atmosphere which you can find just on a few albums: maybe only "Twilight of the Gods" can be better! The songs like "Seven Rains of Fire" or "Blood" are just great and keeping "I Am Raven"'s attitude. And another brilliant of that record is "Twilight Sun", ten-minute epic with (of course) excellent lyrics and the vocals that can perfectly represent those lyrics.

Sometimes you can hear not only great solos but also a synthesisers there;
it makes the whole record sounds a bit progressive, but God's Tower's point is to be highly-atmospheric, almost authentically folkish, not to make just a great arrangements, but to represent an ideas with musik.

"The Turns" is a work of art, and i recommend to listen to this album carefully and not to bring different track out of the album but to listen to them from first to last. If you like beautiful more-than-ten-minutes Bathory epics, good melancholic doom metal and traditional doom, and very folkish vocals and good pagan poetry, this album would became one of your faves immediately!