MONSTERWORKS — The God Album (review)

MONSTERWORKS — The God Album album cover

Album · 2011 · Thrash Metal

3/5 · 2011-03-02
The Block

Everything you believe is…a lie!

“This work is not about God. It is a criticism of the socio-political system which is a consequence of having belief in a supernatural being, namely: religion… If this set of songs achieves anything the hope is that it will make the listener question the source of whatever belief they have in order to feel comfortable with what they include and, most importantly, not to be afraid of that conclusion.”

Reading that, most people would expect a very heavy and dark, depressing feel to this album, but in all reality it is relatively light sounding. While it does have its heavier moments, there are some very excellent songs on “The God Album” that are softer, namely “(Hymn of) Fire”, in parts, and well that’s it. The one thing that this album lacks is some originality. Granted, it is very creative, but most of the songs sound the same and lack difference. But other than that, this album is very solid and enjoyable in parts. The guitars, played by Jon are very good, especially in the rhythmic sections, and on the occasional solo. His guitar skills also nicely compliment his vocals nicely like on the track “The Enemy of My Enemy”. One problem I have on this one, though, is that the vocals seem to be a bit rushed and hurried. Also, while on the topic of vocals, I would like to point out that his growls are much better than his screams. Showing off a bit of talent, Jon also travels into the clean vocal range, something you don’t hear everyday in thrash metal. These vocals are probably my favorite of all his since they fit down right in with the guitar and bass.

The drummer, James, on this album is also very worthy of mention for his consistency throughout the whole album. Of the songs on the album the one that showcases his skill the most would probably be “False Miracle” because, after a very good, but short slow acoustic section he quickly switches up the tempo and it turns it into a good death/ thrash song. There are some low points on this album that almost turned me completely off of it, though. Namely the first track, “Everything You Believe is a Lie”, which is very clichéd and completely unoriginal in the beginning. The opening line is song kind of acapella and states, most surprisingly, “Everything you believe is… a lie!” Thankfully the rest of the album makes up for this one bad part, and it turns into a very enjoyable album.

The production on “The God Album” is standard, but good and compliments the album nicely.

Overall, minus a few mishaps, this is a very good album by thrash veterans Monsterworks. Though only 30 some minutes it gets the point across and delivers a nice sound for listeners. One thing I will say is that the messages on this album might offend some people, but most will be able to pass by them. For a good release, Monsterworks gets 3 stars for their newest album.