God Forbid have raised the metalcore bar a bit with their latest CD IV-Constitution of Treason, a concept album about Nuclear holocaust and how mankind reshapes itself and tries to recover from it. The band have really kicked things up a notch here not just lyrically but musically as well. The guitar work of Doc and Dallas Coyle is crisp and heavy, and there are an enormous amount of blistering leads and harmonic squeals to be heard throughout this CD, not to mention the occasional tender acoustic passage. Lead singer Byron Davis has one of the better voices in the business, as he goes from brutal growls to more melodic passages fairly easily, and the backing vocals of the Coyle brothers add a nice richness to the music.
There's a big epic feel to the music here that is missing from most metalcore albums, and my guess is that God Forbid are making a statement to try and distance themselves from that classification. Borrowing from thrash, death metal, and progressive metal, the band combine plenty of metal fury with intricate riffs and passages that give the three parts to this CD a very intelligent and classy feel. Broken down into three sections called "Article I. Twilight of Civilization", "Article II. In the Darkest Hour, There Was One", and "Article III. Devolution", the story plays sort of like a mixture of a political thriller and a Stephen King novel, with the bombastic metal onslaught firing off the musical accompaniment.
If you thought Gone Forever might have been the peak of God Forbid's creative juices, think again. IV-Constitution of Treason contains everything the epic metal lover craves for, and then some. This metal machine continues to steamroll everything in its path, and it looks like there's no stopping it.
Track Listing
Article I. Twilight of Civilization
1. The End of the World
2. Chains of Humanity
3. Into the Wasteland
Article II. In the Darkest Hour, There Was One
4. The Lonely Dead
5. Divinity
6. Under This Flag
7. To the Fallen Hero
Article III. Devolution
8. Welcome to the Apocalypse (Preamble)
9. Constitution of Treason
10. Crucify Your Beliefs
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