This is the fourth album by the Danish quartet, which was formed just over a decade ago, with their debut appearing to have been completely in Danish and from what I’m reading a black metal album at that. While ‘Goddess’ may only contain 6 songs, their length prevents it from being a short EP and rather far from a black metal album, mostly.
The album begins with “Deceived by an Amethyst”, where the gentle sounds are joined by heavy guitars, drums and what sounds like a saxophone to muddy the waters. It has a jazzy groove and a bit of a swing beat that somehow works with Asrok’s death vocals and Anders M. Jørgensen’s wailing lead breaks.
There are definite hints of black metal during the faster parts of “Kiss from a Knife” as Asrok and Anders’s guitars entwine during their runs up and down their fretboards, all while they still manage to maintain a melodic element to the ever-changing riffing.
Olle Bergholz and Adam CCsquele combine the bass and drumming to have a continual galloping feel during “Hunt Again”, while the lead break takes things to a new level before returning the song to its steady root.
The upbeat tempo on “Fealty, Thunder Whip” has a catchy guitar melody that flitters all over the place during the song, which the growls seem to be in complete opposition to, yet somehow it works well when all combined.
The very brief instrumental “Stabat Bloody Stabat” feels like it has barely started with its long slow organ drone setting an eerie ambience as the acoustic guitars are gently picked. But as the distortion pedal is depressed, “Goddess” comes to life using the same notes. Adam’s drumming alternates from slow tempo keeping to frantic rolls with manic footwork that the guitars don’t bother to keep up with. Asrok’s vocals are slow deep growls that match the tone of the slower passages perfectly.
An interesting album that appears to follow a pattern of ever increasingly intricate guitar riffs combined with catchy melodies.
(7/10 Marco Gaminara)
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