13 October 2024
As an introduction, I would like to briefly mention five of the most important death metal bands currently active in the Netherlands, including God Dethroned. When we talk about dutch death metal, Thanatos, Gorefest, Pestilence and Asphyx undoubtedly come to mind along with God Dethroned. The first extreme metal band to come out of the Netherlands, Thanatos, returned in 1999 after a 7-year hiatus, but they are currently on Hold. Gorefest, as you know, took its place on the shelves of the gilded metal library after breaking up once, making a comeback and bidding farewell for eternity. Pestilence, after making Spheres – being a very experimental album that I personally loved because it was both ahead of its time and contained magnificent compositions – have not been able to get over the confusion they had after that, but continue making music somehow. Asphyx have always done above average and gained serious momentum with the addition of Paul Baayens from Thanatos and the return of Van Drunen, and they released one of the best albums of their career with their last album.
Let’s get back to our main topic. God Dethroned, continuing their career since 1991, defy the years without losing their musical character. They began their musical career dealing with satanic and blasphemous themes, but later on they added subjects about war and esotericism.
God Dethroned are a band who can take the top ranks in the category of death metal bands not having even one bad album in their career. It is true that they experienced more stagnant and modest times, but I think it is possible to explain this with the spirit of the times. In times when different music trends dominated the world market, many metal bands either could not pull their heads out of the sand and show themselves despite releasing good albums, or they tried different things to save the day. More upright bands like God Dethroned have shown signs of maturation and made minor changes, but they have generally maintained their perspective and continued to perform their wonderful styles.
In short, God Dethroned have never made an album that could even be considered below average. This makes it impossible not to appreciate such a great band who have been tirelessly following the path they know is right for years. Hats off to Henri Sattler, one of the most valuable composers of Dutch metal music, for managing to create great music for years and maintaining his wonderful vocals as well. The album, which especially slaps your sensory perceptions with songs like Asmodeus and Kashmir Princess, promises a great listening pleasure.
As always, their music is both melodic and often hosts aggressive moments. In addition to these, the melancholy feeling you may feel from time to time contributes significantly to the aura of the music. As can be seen in the clips shot for the songs Rat Kingdom and The Judas Paradox, the band has taken on a partial Black metal image. It’s surprising that a band celebrating 33 years of their existence use such an image after all these years. God Dethroned were always good. They’re still good. Enjoy!
9/10
