Passiondale

I was ready to write this band off a few years ago due to the horrendus stream of crap they were coming out with but this album is very good. A return to the roots of their brutality they had with "Bloodly Blasphemies" and Grand Grimiore" nice to see them coming back to form.

Death Metal stemming from Holland is what can be called thinking man's death metal, especially of recently. First, Hail of Bullets brings a masterpiece together by making the Eastern Front come to life in "Of Frost and War". While WW2 battles and storeis are often covered within the metal world, I can only think of a few instances where WW1 is touched upon. Iron Maiden obvisouly has, along with Motorhead and recently Dismember with the track Europa Burns, but no one has covered an entire battle and brought the horrors of the 1st world war to life like God Dethroned has with Passiondale. This is an epic record with beautiful melodies, brutality and blast beats. The story telling is especially effective in Poison Fog where Henri tells the story of a soldier and his nightmares of the smell of the mustard gas. While some songs such as "Drowning in Mud" bring the story to life from an action standpint, songs like "No Survivors" let you feel the pain within the soldiers minds. The story telling is both critical of the governments involved, and sympathetic to the soldiers who died and those lived on with the horrific images years later. Passiondale is well thought out concept with excellent musicianship that GD have become known for.

The Dutchmen Metal heads get better with every new album. Every song is integral to the story of "Passiondale" that this album should be bought as a whole rather than individually. However, the songs that really stand-out to me are; No Man's Land, Poison Fog, Passiondale, No Survivors, and Behind Enemy Lines. Just remember, this is a geniously layered album that will give you something new with each listen.