Call Me Under 666

I’m a huge fan of Heavy/Power Metal, but I can safely say that Godiva isn’t exactly what attracts me to the genre. All one is going to get out of “Call me Under 666” is just a tired attempt to play old school Power Metal. There isn’t much else to speak of other than the bland vocalist who sounds like Tobias Sammet with a more restricted vocal range. And let’s not forget the overplayed, passionless riffing that took place throughout the entire album. But don’t worry, the album did have some good points, even if they were few and far between.

One positive aspect of the album that I will regard is Godiva’s satisfying ability to replicate the 80’s style of Heavy Metal. Which is good, as long as they refrain from becoming an 80’s Glam Metal outfit. Most of the tracks on this CD reminded me of the band Lions Pride who I believe wrote the theme song to The Transformers: The Movie. (Lions Pride was supposedly the revised name of a group called “Lion,” which was at the time the name of the band that wrote the Transformers theme song.) Yet, Godiva is only reminiscent of that style, and as mentioned earlier, the song writing talent that they possess is insufficient to expand on a theme such as this.

One other positive aspect of “Call me Under 666” is the track “My Fate” which had the potential to be heavy-hitting and attention grabbing had they just sped it up a little. However, I’m afraid that the guitars on this song are the only sincerely catchy riffing throughout the album. I can’t stress this enough. Bland, bland, bland! Listening to “Call me Under 666” was exhausting for me: all the songs sounded the same, the solos were tired and slow, and overall the album was just plain directionless.

Furthermore, I don’t know what inspired these dopes to give their album such a dubious name like “Call me Under 666.” And as ambiguous as that is, their poor lyrical content doesn’t stop there. Most of the songs on the album have nothing important to say or express. Just your typical “My eyes are on fire…When lightening strikes the ground…blah, blah, blah!” Now, I’m no stranger to generic Heavy/Power Metal, but Godiva doesn’t even perform mediocrity that well. If you’re in the mood for just a good head bang and some generic, catchy tunes, just listen to Firewind or Nocturnal Rites. Godiva’s 2005 release “Call me Under 666” isn’t too interesting to behold, but from what I’ve heard (and keep in mind that this is just what I have heard, this is not my opinion), their first album was much better. It also had a different vocalist. I would like to have heard it to help me assess their new album, but unfortunately it is very difficult to find. I give “Call me Under 666” a 30%. I would give it a 50%, but it was just so painfully average I had to lower their score to get my point across: Godiva is bland. I apologize for being repetitive, but if you really want to learn the meaning of the word “repetitive”, all you have to do is listen to this album.

Originally written for www.mtvhell.com.