Vehemence - God Was Created
2002 | Frontiers
Quality Death Metal, particularly out of the U.S is a rare breed these days. In 2002, Nile and Vader (I know theyre Polish, but they slay nonetheless) are the exceptions. However, with Morbid Angel in a somewhat shaky state of hiatus and Cannibal Corpse in run of the mill mode, the underground hasnt really thrown up any real contenders to the DM title that the aforementioned Egyptologists currently hold with ease. I ask you to now add Arizonas Vehemence to the picture. Things are not what they seem with Vehemence. Looking at the rather average (ok, its crap) cover art (nothing original here folks, in fact its even more generic inside the lyric booklet) and the obligatory spiky logo usually reserved for our frost covered black metallers of Scandinavia, you could be forgiven for letting this one pass you by. Sure, Vehemence wear their artistic Death Metal on their sleeves for all to see, but hell, tell me that what you see hear is any different to the thousands of other U.S Death Metal hopefuls. So why should you investigate this any further? God Was Created is one of the more outstanding Death Metal release in quite some time. It is a colossal, savage release that encompasses sounds from the entire spectrum of Death Metal. Forget originality (there can be no such thing in Death Metal anymore), this disc is all about quality songwriting using the blueprints set down by Vehemences many influences. Musically, Vehemence have delivered a brutal, yet intricate wall of sound on this disc. Combining essential Death Metal viciousness in the production with melodic leads akin to our friends in Europe, dropping in blast-beats, acoustic interludes and layered atmospheric keyboards (particularly of the awesome She Never Noticed Me) along with jaw dropping heaviness in the slow sections, you can start to get the idea of what the band sounds like (and I dont think Ive done them justice either). Lyrically, its all Christ-hating blasphemy as far as I can tell centered around some sort of conceptual theme which Id rather not explore here (It suits the music, but lacks any real importance to me. Frankly, it bores me to death). This leads me to the main gripe I have with Vehemence - their vokills. As far as Death Metal vokills go, Vehemence doesnt pretend to reinvent the genre. However, Nathan Gearharts performance does nothing for me in terms of providing that extra depth of heaviness. Granted his performance is guttural and cavernous as the next guy, but the heavy use of effects to layer his vokills comes off as a bit hokey to me. A small gripe in the scheme of things happening on this disc, but nevertheless, it must be stated. This type of vocal production reminds of what Bo Summer tries to achieve with Danish Deathsters Illdisposed. For me, at least, it is a little overcooked. All that aside, God Was Created is a scintillating Death affair. It is extremely inventive and interesting from start to finish. Top-notch song writing encompassing all that is great about this genre. There are some that have slated this as a Top 10 Death Metal disc of all time. That, my friends is a big call, one I am loath to agree with at this point. One thing is for sure, is that Vehemence currently wipe the floor with most of their contemporaries. From a fan that finds it hard to go past the early Euro/US Death metal classics, this comes highly recommended.
Reviewer: Craig 'Krozza' Crossley
------------------------
I recently thanked him on this review, and this guy pretty much figured us out!!!! I pay much respects to critical reviewers like this!
2002 | Frontiers
Quality Death Metal, particularly out of the U.S is a rare breed these days. In 2002, Nile and Vader (I know theyre Polish, but they slay nonetheless) are the exceptions. However, with Morbid Angel in a somewhat shaky state of hiatus and Cannibal Corpse in run of the mill mode, the underground hasnt really thrown up any real contenders to the DM title that the aforementioned Egyptologists currently hold with ease. I ask you to now add Arizonas Vehemence to the picture. Things are not what they seem with Vehemence. Looking at the rather average (ok, its crap) cover art (nothing original here folks, in fact its even more generic inside the lyric booklet) and the obligatory spiky logo usually reserved for our frost covered black metallers of Scandinavia, you could be forgiven for letting this one pass you by. Sure, Vehemence wear their artistic Death Metal on their sleeves for all to see, but hell, tell me that what you see hear is any different to the thousands of other U.S Death Metal hopefuls. So why should you investigate this any further? God Was Created is one of the more outstanding Death Metal release in quite some time. It is a colossal, savage release that encompasses sounds from the entire spectrum of Death Metal. Forget originality (there can be no such thing in Death Metal anymore), this disc is all about quality songwriting using the blueprints set down by Vehemences many influences. Musically, Vehemence have delivered a brutal, yet intricate wall of sound on this disc. Combining essential Death Metal viciousness in the production with melodic leads akin to our friends in Europe, dropping in blast-beats, acoustic interludes and layered atmospheric keyboards (particularly of the awesome She Never Noticed Me) along with jaw dropping heaviness in the slow sections, you can start to get the idea of what the band sounds like (and I dont think Ive done them justice either). Lyrically, its all Christ-hating blasphemy as far as I can tell centered around some sort of conceptual theme which Id rather not explore here (It suits the music, but lacks any real importance to me. Frankly, it bores me to death). This leads me to the main gripe I have with Vehemence - their vokills. As far as Death Metal vokills go, Vehemence doesnt pretend to reinvent the genre. However, Nathan Gearharts performance does nothing for me in terms of providing that extra depth of heaviness. Granted his performance is guttural and cavernous as the next guy, but the heavy use of effects to layer his vokills comes off as a bit hokey to me. A small gripe in the scheme of things happening on this disc, but nevertheless, it must be stated. This type of vocal production reminds of what Bo Summer tries to achieve with Danish Deathsters Illdisposed. For me, at least, it is a little overcooked. All that aside, God Was Created is a scintillating Death affair. It is extremely inventive and interesting from start to finish. Top-notch song writing encompassing all that is great about this genre. There are some that have slated this as a Top 10 Death Metal disc of all time. That, my friends is a big call, one I am loath to agree with at this point. One thing is for sure, is that Vehemence currently wipe the floor with most of their contemporaries. From a fan that finds it hard to go past the early Euro/US Death metal classics, this comes highly recommended.
Reviewer: Craig 'Krozza' Crossley
------------------------
I recently thanked him on this review, and this guy pretty much figured us out!!!! I pay much respects to critical reviewers like this!
