God Dethroned – The Judas Paradox
God Dethroned – The Judas Paradox
Reigning Phoenix Music
06/09/2024
Running Time: 43:54
Review by Oli Gonzalez
7.5/10
God Dethroned. With the band’s origins stemming back to the early 1990s, the Dutch Extreme Metal act have enjoyed success over the years with appearances at Wacken, Summerbreeze, 70,000 Tons Of Metal, and many more to their name. This autumn, the band are due to tour Europe this autumn, supporting Polish heavyweights Batushka. This tour coincides with the release of their latest album, “The Judas Paradox”, a concept album were the human condition is central to the lyrical themes, representing a “sonic descent into the very heart of darkness and deceit, where the lines between good and evil are blurred”, in the words of the band. God Dethroned have teamed up with Tony Lindgren to ensure the album is mastered to the highest standards. Having worked with the likes of Sepultura and Opeth, it’s safe to say this is in safe hands. So let’s get into it, with proceedings kicking off with the album’s title track ‘The Judas Paradox’.
Some first impressions. Those production values are pristine and squeaky clean. cThe band certainly have done their homework in the studio and paid attention to the little details. The fierce mid-range growls you’d expect from extreme metal combined with some cleaner vocals you perhaps wouldn’t associate with the genre stands out for all the right reasons. This melodic blackened death approach reminds me of Septic Flesh, though perhaps slightly faster and less industrious. A good start for sure.
Now, time for ‘Rat Kingdom’. With thunderous blast beats and tremolo picked guitars, this is edging more towards a traditional black metal anthem. Nice work! Whereas the pace slows down for a more groove infused assault in ‘The Hanged Man’, accompanied by blazing lead guitar work. ‘Asmodeus’ is an early highlight for me. Here, it’s all about the guitars. Atmospheric, blazing riffs, and overall just aesthetically pleasing. This is one I’ll certainly make a return to.
Then things start to …descend? Aside from the subtle introduction of electronic elements in ‘Kashmir Princess’, it doesn’t seem as though there’s any real attempt to progress the sound or introduce new ideas. Though the momentum really started to pick up again with ‘Hubris Anorexia’, which is one of the more muscular and heavier efforts on the album with riffs that certainly pack a punch. ‘The Eye Of Providence’ is another with some solid guitar riffs that will grab your attention, though again it doesn’t feel like the band are doing enough to progress the sound and things are seeming more recycled. Sadly, it’s hard to really add anything else and this description is how I would describe the rest of the album and remaining songs. A disappointing end really.
With this being said, “The Judas Paradox” is a respectable extreme metal album presented with exceptional production standards. There just needs to be more variety in the compositional for this to go toe to toe with the genre heavyweights. Something you feel that God Dethroned certainly have the potential to do.
TRACKLISTING:
01. The Judas Paradox
02. Rat Kingdom
03. The Hanged Man
04. Black Heart
05. Asmodeus
06. Kashmir Princess
07. Hubris Anorexia
08. The Eye Of Providence
09. Hailing Death
10. Broken Bloodlines
11. War Machine
LINE-UP:
Henri Sattler – Vocals and Lead guitar
Dave Meester – Guitar
Jeroen Pomper – Bass
Frank Schilperoot – Drums
LINKS:
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