God Dethroned - The Toxic Touch

You know, I must admit...I wasn't all that impressed after my first listen to this disc.  God Dethroned just sounded like a boring and passionate-less band that did nothing for me.  However, as with every album I review, you have to give them numerous spins cause sometimes the core of a band's sound doesn't always jump out at you right from the start.  While some people would view that as a bad thing, I think that sometimes it is a result of a band doing more than just writing that "catchy" hit song.  

After I let this album sink in, I started liking their style of growled vocals more and the melody and groove the band unleashed started to sink in.  While the majority of bands that featured death-styled vocals focus more on the brutal-ness of their sound and the pummeling and the blasting and the gruesome lyrics, God Dethroned takes a different approach that focuses more on dynamics and emotion and focused-energy and like I said earlier...melody and groove.  While many will label this band as a death metal-influenced band...and they are...they are one that I see many more people getting into than the typical death metal band.  And regardless of what genre you want to lump them into, they are a band that is tight and talented, and this is an album that I think, gets more consistent the further you get into it.  And while this album is stinkin' heavy, the band doesn't get stuck in a rut here.  At times they are fast and aggressive.  At times they are slower paced and more melodic.  But throughout, the songs have a very dark feel.

As far as the rest of the package goes, production sounds really good, and the artwork, while nothing overly special is nicely done.    

This band has been around quite a while and their maturity in the way they create their music is evident.  I can easily see them appealing to death and maybe even some very open-minded black metal fans, but also to more accessible bands like Angel Blake and maybe even newer Extol.  Good stuff.

Rating: 87/100

Review By: Matt Morrow

Label: Metal Blade Records

Total Songs: 10

Total Time: 39:12

Tracklisting: 1. Faithless, 2. Hating Life, 3. 2014, 4. Falling Down, 5. On Wings of Pestilence, 6. The Day You Died, 7. Away from Emptiness, 8. Macabre World, 9. Typhoid Mary, 10. Fail to Exist.

Best Songs: Tracks 4, 5, & 6

Band Lineup: Henri Sattler - Vocals/Guitars, Isaac Delahaye - Guitars, Ariën van Weesenbeek - Drums, Henk Zinger - Bass

Band Website: http://www.goddethroned.com