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markhebb
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2021 5:32 am
Posts: 252
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:25 am 
 

So I know these guys would at best be charitably described as a 'B Tier' death metal band - but holy shit do they have some bangers. I'm coming around to the fact that Under The Sign Of The Iron Cross might just be a top 10 death metal album for me (well structured, doesn't outstay its welcome and some incredible riffs - great vocal performance too). Passiondale is also really good. Anyone else a fan of these guys?

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LithoJazzoSphere
Veteran

Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:11 pm
Posts: 3576
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:21 am 
 

I haven't gotten around to their later albums, but they have some cool stuff in the late 90s/early 00s. Jens van der Valk was on guitar in that era, and I'm quite familiar with him from his much lighter band Autumn. Their former vocalist Nienke de Jong guests on Bloody Blasphemy but is rather underutilized. Anyway, I should probably give the later albums a chance, Into the Lungs of Hell was especially nice, I prefer the lower tuning there.

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Metal_Jaw
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2011 12:57 pm
Posts: 753
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:28 am 
 

I don't see if I'd call myself a full-on fan, but like you said they do have some serious bangers. "Ravenous" and "Passiondale" are my two favorites. "Illuminati" is pretty good too, though it goes into a bit more of a melodic black metal direction than their previous stuff.

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cultofkraken
Veteran

Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:18 am
Posts: 3013
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:36 am 
 

God Dethroned made a pretty big splash in the day with The Grand Grimoire. It got solid reviews and I remember being really taken with “Under a Silver Moon” which was the promo single going around at the time. I don’t think you’re giving them enough credit, they were a solid B team Death Metal band, would’ve been mentioned amongst the best Dutch bands back in the 90s and they had some solid heat in the aughts. The problem was they broke up multiple times and ruined their momentum, as well as releasing some meh records like Into the Lungs of Hell.

My favourites will always be the first four records but you can’t go wrong with the last 3 either. Lair of the White Worm also being pretty decent from that weaker mid period.
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colin040
Metal freak

Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:00 pm
Posts: 7610
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:03 am 
 

Not really a fan of the band but the debut slays. Reminds me of early Bolt Thrower as well as early Necrophobic somewhat.

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cultofkraken
Veteran

Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:18 am
Posts: 3013
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:10 am 
 

colin040 wrote:
Not really a fan of the band but the debut slays. Reminds me of early Bolt Thrower as well as early Necrophobic somewhat.


I remember as a teenager getting the Christhunt and that flayed rat cover made me so uncomfortable I hid it from my parents!
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mirons
Metalhead

Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 12:59 pm
Posts: 660
Location: Latvia
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 8:26 am 
 

Great band, one of my favourites. I find their output to be very consistent quality-wise; perhaps none of their albums can be called perfect, but all are good or better. My fave is still Bloody Blasphemy, I'd rank it as one of top 20 death metal albums, perhaps even in the Top 10.

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FLIPPITYFLOOP
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:09 pm
Posts: 1436
Location: CHRAWNA, Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:10 pm 
 

They're pretty decent. I remember I was about to write them off after not having checked them out for a while, but then spun a few songs from Passiondale and Under The Sign Of The Iron Cross and enjoyed them more than I remembered. I think there's some material I've checked out that never stayed with me and sounded generic, but at their best they've got some solid riffs and great energy. I'll have to revisit them again and give them more time.

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Xymosys
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 9:19 am
Posts: 1254
Location: Croatia
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:46 pm 
 

Love them!
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LithoJazzoSphere
Veteran

Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:11 pm
Posts: 3576
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:05 pm 
 

cultofkraken wrote:
The problem was they broke up multiple times and ruined their momentum, as well as releasing some meh records like Into the Lungs of Hell.


What do you not like about that one?

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cultofkraken
Veteran

Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:18 am
Posts: 3013
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 6:02 pm 
 

LithoJazzoSphere wrote:
cultofkraken wrote:
The problem was they broke up multiple times and ruined their momentum, as well as releasing some meh records like Into the Lungs of Hell.


What do you not like about that one?


You know, my problem with it always was the pacing, and I always thought the lyrics were particularly bad. Maybe I should go back to it but I remember being disappointed with those things. I guess it was a long ass time ago I bought it maybe I should go back.
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Unity
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:42 pm
Posts: 1886
Location: Portugal
PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2021 10:19 am 
 

My favourite Death Metal band.
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77hjrttfred
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:15 pm
Posts: 411
PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:56 pm 
 

I think it is a bit harsh describing as B tier, I actually like them quite a lot.

They do kind of have distinct eras. Their early albums were slayer-esque inspired death metal. Then from 'Into The Lungs Of Hell' they brought in a lot of melody for the next few albums. Form Passiondale onwards, they moved to more of a blackened death metal style.

I actually like all of their different eras. My favorite albums are 'Passiondale', 'Under The Sign Of the Iron Cross' and 'The Grand Grimoire'. But, I actually think all of their albums are pretty good.

Having said that, I thought that their last album 'Illuminati' was just about their weakest album.

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joppek
Veteran

Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2011 7:36 am
Posts: 2547
Location: Suomi Finland Perkele
PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 9:16 am 
 

great band throughout their rather varying career, but yeah, illuminati was quite a disappointment, tho' i also can't seem to remember anything about the world ablaze...
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Jebator
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 8:11 am
Posts: 198
Location: Croatia
PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 3:07 pm 
 

Definitely do not agree with the last posters' opinion on "Illuminati".

Love the album. IMO it brings back the days of "The Toxic Touch" where GD was less on fast tempos and even more on melodies and with a good measure of reflectiveness/pathos thrown in but without the cheese. The lowpoint of their discography is "The World Ablaze" easily. There is literally no energy in it.

Furthermore, they are not amongst the pioneers of death metal, but are surely an A-list DM band. "Bloody Blasphemy" and "Ravenous" are the real posterchild(ren) of what melodic death metal should have been. Fast, aggressive, yet melodic.

Two things I don't like about the band: the lyrics and the lack of energy on their concerts. As if the songs are played ln somewhat slower tempos than on the albums and the relentless drive on some of the songs is just not there.

Here's how I'd rank their discography:

1. Bloody Blasphemy (1999)
2. Ravenous (2001)
3. The Grand Grimoire (1997)
4. Into the Lungs of Hell (2003)
5. Under the Sign of the Iron Cross (2010)
6. The Toxic Touch (2006)
7. Illuminati (2020)
8. The Lair of the White Worm (2004)
9. Passiondale (2009)
10. The Christhunt (1992)
11. The World Ablaze (2017)

Overall, dependable and highly enjoyable band with a couple of DM classic in their catalogue. If some you are willing to dive deeper into each album, gladly.

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tomcat_ha
Minister of Boiling Water

Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:05 am
Posts: 5570
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 4:05 pm 
 

solid band with a bit too much filler to be A tier but still real solid albums for the most part.
Didn't like the world ablaze at all and i dont remember if i ever bothered to check the last one.

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CrudeNoiseMonger
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 10:06 am
Posts: 88
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 6:26 pm 
 

Early material is damn solid. The Grand Grimoire is easily one of the quality releases of Death Metal's lull period. "The Somberness of Winter" is hands down my single favorite song of theirs. Speed, power, and aggression with a surprising melodic touch.

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