God’s Bastard… Well, it sure doesn’t sound like the being in question was a planned child! And family relations must be pretty complicated… From the looks of things, anyway, it seems that a lot of bad feelings are being harbored.
But enough with the speculation about other people’s affairs. As the band name might indicate, God’s Bastard play a rather special kind of black metal, definitely no garden variety. This two-man outfit from Brooklyn, New York, consisting of singer/guitarist Drew Hays (previously in Floods) and drummer Lev Weinstein (Krallice), have cooked up a somewhat different brew, containing a multitude of flavors.
Originally, their debut EP Last Standing Village was released digitally through Bandcamp in 2019. Although the reviews were favorable, Italian label I, Voidhanger thought that the EP hadn’t received the attention it is worthy of and decided to release a physical edition. Having listened to the EP’s three tracks, I can tell you that they definitely deserve to be heard.
Chaos Apologist kicks off the EP. Melodic, soaring riffs set a foreboding atmosphere and soon gives way to furious drumming and shouting. Straight from the beginning the fury of black metal is paired with the anger of hardcore. The vocals alternate between shouted and growled. The music has moments of light and darkness, the tide rises and the tide falls, but melody is never forsaken and there is an audible attention to detail.
God Raise The Sea begins with an extended instrumental part. This superb combination of guitar work and drumming is probably my favorite piece of music on the entire EP. After a minute or so growled vocals join in and the track begins its slow descent from compact, coherent perfection to experimental chaos. While God Raise The Sea starts out melodic and harmonious, it is entirely taken apart towards the middle, where, quite unexpectedly, jazzy experimenting dominates the sound, especially via the drumming. Impressive! The lyrics, exceptionally well written, insightful and poetic, match the quality of the music and the song ends with these lines: So rise the tide! / Commence this slaughter / To fill our lungs with salt / And water / Come every son / And every daughter / To choke on ash / And salt / And water.
The final track, To The Last Standing Village, brings us safely back to black metal territory, but only in the beginning. Namely, the last village appears to be standing on the shores of psychedelia, at least, that’s where the guitar is taking us – again completely unanticipated.
Yes, the label was right, this definitely needs to be heard. God’s Bastard, as suspected, have quite an unusual story to tell.
(8.5/10 Slavica)
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