This Sunday it’s finally time, after an almost three year wait, for one of Luxembourg’s most unique metal bands to release a new EP! The guys from Arkaeon took a while to return to the studio, due to some line-up changes over time, and the question is whether Godless was worth the wait…well, just read on.
The quintet plays, what they themselves call, brutal tech groove and even though it’s a made-up genre, it describes their sound perfectly: it has the brutality of hardcore, the technicality of technical death metal and groove that makes even the most avid hater of headbanging bop their head in agreement.
If you compare the three songs on here to the band’s debut EP, New Level Of Inhumanity, you will notice that the skill of the instrumental department has increased vastly, with riffs being so tight and so intricate that even after the umpteenth listening you will discover new details. The drumming is also from a completely different planet: the amount of blast beats and double bass attacks is just incredible. A huge part of the groove comes from, the luckily not dominant, chugging parts and breakdowns…might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it helps to take off some tension of the listener, and the musicians.
The main critique that I’ve heard, from people I’ve talked to about Arkaeon‘s debut, and what also kind of bothered me were the rather monotonous vocals. After having heard the evolution of the vocalist at the 2012 edition of FFYS, I was quite surprised…well, I was even more surprised when I heard this new studio material. He has added several new techniques to his repertoire, one of which is akin to pig squeals but mixed with growls, and in my opinion sounds better than ever. My only minor gripe is that the articulation during the aforementioned growls is suffering a bit…but then again: this is metal…if you want to know all the lyrics, go read them, you lazy bastards!
As a closing statement, I can only say that I’m very pleased with the improvement I’ve heard during these nineteen minutes, and that I’m very much looking forward to the, hopefully, planned full length! You can visit the band’s Facebook page for more information, and check out the lyric video below! Also let it be known that the release party of Godless is this Sunday, May 18th, at Soul Kitchen in Luxembourg!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxGboV1dhdc]