For a band that formed this decade, Godskill certainly have the feel of the angry ’90s about them, but tempered with a touch of the melodiously intricate. This is their second album after their well-received début in 2016, containing eight rather varied tracks.
A very Bolt Thrower style guitar intro on the opener, “The Eleven Kills The Ten”, slowly plods through their progression until the drums kick in, followed by a deep growl & far more rapid riffs that get faster until they fly off the leash in a manic lead.
Carsten Quadel’s vocals have a haunting demonic quality to them during the chants on “Demon Mother” before heading straight back into the realms of death as Thomas Bernhardt beats the snap out of his snare over the choppy guitar.
Blasting straight into “Ungodly Is The Flesh” with its guttural roars, Timo Schütz flips his guitar between frantic riff changes and melodic passages when the female vocals bring in a choral element.
Title track “The Gatherer Of Fear And Blood” has extremely fast footwork over the slow steady snare & doom-death guitar with its occasional squeals and bends, and long drawn out growls to with the whispered vocals.
Uwe Schwaderer’s bass emphasises both the drums & guitars on “From The Ashes Of Angels” as the song varies its pace from melodic to manic with the meandering lead taking place in both.
The steady sharp snap of the snare keeps the pace on “The Shell” leisurely allowing the lead far more freedom to dynamically alter the mood as the vocals throw in a little more venom than on previous tracks.
The Maidenesque instrumental “Preliminary Invocation” is an emotive couple of minutes, showing they are able to play with as much repressed fury as they do with outright rage.
Very briefly a slow track, “Becoming A God” uses a slow melodic second guitar as the other guitar matches the full on pace of the drumming with its heavy and oppressive riff.
A very enjoyable album owing to their blending of the subtle melodic elements into the heavier compositions. Definitely worth giving a listen to.
(7/10 Marco Gaminara)
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