God Forbid - IV: Constitution of Treason

dill_the_devil

OneMetal.com Music Editor
God Forbid - IV: Constitution of Treason
Century Media - CD 77566-2 - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse

GF1.jpg


It's been a mere eighteen months after Gone Forever, God Forbid's third album and the platter that saw them reinjected with purpose and vigour after the period of inter-band unrest that followed 2001's Determination. So little time has passed, but it seems like the almost universally positive reception of Gone Forever has given God Forbid the confidence to fully spread their wings and create the album that they've been threatening to make since their inception. IV: Constitution of Treason is a ten-track concept album, matching lyrical ambition and scope with an expanded sense of melody and dynamics, all melded to the quintet's already-energising blend of melo-death, thrash and contemporary metalcore.

The story tells of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, torn apart by nuclear war. The survivors are oppressed by a fascistic, staunchly religious government, until a lone 'hero' speaks out and begins a sort of people's revolution against the establishment. He eventually becomes a martyr for his cause, and we leave the album with a re-constituted civilisation seemingly stumbling towards making the same mistakes again. The musical backdrop for this opus is recognisably God Forbid, but just more so. The compositions are more complex in their structure, the harmonies and riffs more adventurous, the interplay between clean and harsh vocals more pronounced. The thrash component, in particular, seems to have come more to the fore, with breakdowns reduced in number but, as a result, given an added kick when they arrive .

The album was produced by Jason Seucof at Audiohammer Studios and Eric Rachel at Trax East (Rachel also handled the mixing duties), and the combination of their considerable talents has rendered a meaty sound - the guitars growl and roar, the drums clatter away with clarity and punch, multi-layered vocals whisper suggestively or soar like a choir where the song requires... basically, the entire album has been written, performed, recorded and constructed with an equal measure of musical talent and technical attention to detail, making this one of the most satisfyingly complete albums to have been released in recent years.

Any complaints are pretty minor - I keep cringing whenever I hear the 'welcome to the apocalypse... the rain falls into the deepest chasm of despair' lyrics at the beginning of 'Welcome To The Apocalypse', and the opening moments of first track 'The End Of The World' sound unnervingly similar to the introductory track to Trivium's Ascendancy - but in the face of such quality material as the absolutely storming 'Crucify Your Beliefs' or the emotive, yet bruising 'To The Fallen Hero', these barely even register as niggles. Existing God Forbid fans will be ecstatic at the progression the guys have made, and those yet to find out what all the fuss is about will find no better introduction. Top notch stuff.

9.5/10

God Forbid's Official Website
Century Media's Official Website
 
I totally agree, i listened to Gone FOrever a couple of times and was only impressed by a couple of songs, but a buddy of mine said i should check this one out, and it is ten times better, almost every song blows me away
 
this album is good....its great..but one thing about it that pissed me off so bad.

you cannot play the CD on any dell computers!

it is a double sided CD, one for audio, and one for a DVD. for you to be able to play the audio side, that side has to face up when you put it in the drive, and to play the DVD, the DVD side has to be facing up, i have never had a CD that had reversed lables, you usually put the Audio side on the bottom if you wanted to listen to the album.....backwards

and also this whole thing about the dell computers. i tried 4 different computers at school...and my own computer at home... it won't even recognize that there is a CD in the drive...but if you put the DVD side in the drive, it recognizes the DVD part.... what the fuck!

I have an I-pod, and i can't put the CD on my i-pod or back up copies, just because of that stupid reason....

So if you own a Dell computer, your not gonna be able to play any Audio from the CD, just the DVD side.

Century Media.... what...the fuck..........

sorry....that just pisses me off, such a great album though....but the whole concept of the CD is dumb.....grrrr

it is a great CD, but hell they put this Anti-copying thing on it like a few bands i know of, and you can't even play it on windows media player without a liscence....man its a pain the ass..


oh and an u pdate

it won't even read the CD in my Stereo system in my room....complete bullshit
yeah the DVD works fine, but the audio has copyright protection, i cant even play it on my ipod or anything, not even my stereo for some strange reason..

the album is great, i had to rip it on my old computer and transfer it to my dell upstairs, but damn, i can't even move it to my ipod..
 
Yea i really liked this cd i got a free demo at my cd store that i go to and i loved it so i bought the cd and wasnt disapointed
 
I have to say i've only heard a couple of tracks so i don't know the whole story, but does the concept of a story running through the album about the rise of a hero in a post apocalyptic world against the evil powers that be, culminating in the heros eventual martyrdom remind anyone of Fear Factory's Obsolete, or is it just me?