ALBUM REVIEW: Godless – Adversus Parousia

Chilean death metal force Godless returns with their second full length album. It has been 16 years since the debut, album with some killers EPs, a split and demo in the interim. “Adversus Parousia” is out on the 6th of June via Nuclear Winter Records.

Malevolent guitars and tight drum work erupt straight into life with a crushing blend of pure classic death metal worship. Much in the veins of Incantation, Immolation and the like; this is furious material with a ton of atmosphere and a charnel grit to it. Monstrous vocals roar through the mix while the punishing drum work is present without muddying the guitars. Slower moments inject more groove into things before that bestial rage comes back to haunt the intoxicating onslaught. Making sure to utilise the full range of the instrument, the bassist plays some interesting warped sections while keeping the thunder of the low end rattling giving a dynamic performance to match the savagery of the guitars and brutality of the drums. Due to its monolithic production, Godless have never sounded clearer with their pulverising death metal conjurations hitting forcefully and without mercy. Each contorting hook or spewed verse is executed ruthlessly and my first impressions of this record are certainly very positive.

Sepulchral doom embeds itself in the eldritch death metal ferocity to convey a gloomy, funereal and evil soundscape. Some sections feature more gurgling, inhuman vocals which counterbalance the snarling viciousness and give more edge to the frontman while the instruments remain constant and reliable. This is a fundamentally very tight album that feels like a lot of work, care and attention to detail went into creating. Of course bands like Dead Congregation, Cruciamentum, Disma, Corpsessed, Father Befouled and Funebrarum can be drawn to as comparisons in the current underground but Godless bring something of value to their contemporaries with a little Latin American harshness to set them apart from the crowd. Godless perfectly holds the balance between those meandering slowing sections of decay with the more relentless and aggressive sections all while feeling organic in their arrangements. The result is an explosion of intensity.

Twisted, malevolent and riveting until the end; “Adversus Parousia” will certainly hold your attention with its belligerent brand of barbarism. It’s not the most complex album, nor the most original. But it feels honest, authentic and ultimately it sounds magnificent. This is simply real death metal played with a fervent passion and with a truly astonishing production to allow you to feel its sacrilegious presence in the pit of your stomach. Godless have successfully made an album that sounds like the bellowing bowels of hell. No obnoxious technical showing off, no weird avant-garde art school stuff, just pure uncompromising morbidity. Chile has one of the strongest metal scenes in the South American region and this death metal tome certainly lives up to the expectations I had based on their prior releases.

A punishing opus of truly excellent death metal. Godless unleash a monstrosity of extremity that will certainly destroy all in its path. If you adore 90s death metal that ranges from blasting insanity to more atmospheric and eerie passages all with an overwhelmingly evil presence; this record is certainly for you.