False Gods – No Symmetry… Only Dissolution

Band: False Gods
Title: No Symmetry… Only Dissolution
Label: Seeing Red Records
Release date: 16 October 2020
Country: USA
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

Last year we here at BAZ had the enjoy of exclusive streaming “The Ladder” by False Gods. The legendary Count Vlad did the introduction article to the stream and I think personally he will be happy to know that the New Yorkers are back with not only a brand new release, but their very first full-length album “No Symmetry…Only Dissolution”. Just as Vlad described the stream last year, they now continue to wallow in a mix of doom, post-hardcore, sludge and even psychedelia. His words still apply.

“Enemy Territory” strolled around to begin with. Now, knowing ahead that this was a mix of doom and sludge, meaning slower than maple syrup in Siberia and yet faster than maple syrup in the Iranian Lut Desert, it was going to be a surprise either way. It included some fast and aggressive punky attitude on the hardcore lane. The pace gets taken down however as the doomy side kicks in and even so quickly after just one track you can hear that the group´s performance points them to the top with other signed bangs in this genre.

Slow, heavy, and even slower blast beats describe I Know Too Much before we are back down again. And this how they do it. The verses are fast, the bridge and chorus are slow and emotional, if that makes any sense. Followed by “Call of the Neanderthal”, as interestingly named as it is, it´s quite the mountain to walk up as it builds anticipation and atmosphere with each chord. Almost post-apocalyptic but acts as a breather between the previous track and the next, even if it mostly feels like you are out of breath throughout the whole thing.

A rather unexpected straight pattern drum intro in “Lords of Emptiness” matches the following riffs which in all tracks so far have been distinctive even if they are in the same type of ordinary groove doom feel, they sound nowhere alike. With some minor hiccups here and there, which gives it a nice organic feel, they make a lot with this genre and it doesn’t become boring. I suppose I was expecting the most from the last track, “An Eternity of Failure”, since the album had so far been so strong. It goes in a swaggering, slower tempo with a mood that is almost dreamy. Very flowing and atmospheric. It suits as a farewell track.

What stuck out the most here was the vocals. While being screamed out in a hardcore style the singer tends to use melodies a lot more then expected instead of going the usual monotone route of this genre. Even if not necessarily sounding great at all times, it keeps things more interesting. This genre alone won’t make them big, but with some polish and some years of playing under their belt I’m sure they can go quite far. 8.5/10 Julia Katrin

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8.5/10: To Greatness and Glory!
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