Review Summary: Ugliness. Leprosy. Pestilence on you!
You! I'd hang you. And you! I'd cut your head off!
And with these words the listener is thrust into the aggressive, blackened death metal world that is Vesania's
God the Lux. From start to finish the album is abrasive, ugly, and sonically pummeling; in short,
God the Lux is everything extreme metal should be.
Vocalist/guitarist Orion (Behemoth/Neolithic) is a large part of why the album sounds so abrasive. His vocal performance on the album is superb; his growls are low, yet clear enough to be understood for a large majority of the album, and his screams fit the mood of the music perfectly. Throughout the album his voice will often run alongside the low end, fast paced guitars, making for quite the powerful wall of sound; what is impressive though is how he avoids blending in with them, and manages to keep the vocals interesting. On tracks such as "God the Lux" and "Legions Are Me" his displays both his highs and lows, without having them turn out as a cacophony. His delivery is also very well done. Needless to say, the lyrical content is extremely violent, and the way Orion delivers the lyrics adds a new level to the songs. His delivery is such that he is not only growling and screaming, but spewing the lyrics through the speakers. As a result, the rage and anger in the lyrics, and his voice for that matter can be felt all the more easily.
Lyrically, the album is so-so. It is split between well written, and sub-par lyrics. Tracks like "Rest in Pain" sport some of the weaker lyrics on the album, in the form of
It twists me, when I have you in view/ And I feel like vomiting when I think of you!/ You're all are right/ But live me alone, disappear! While tracks like "Posthuman Kind" show more in depth, thought out lyrics:
I want you to remember the blind man/ For you've been seeing with his eyes/ And the mute man/ That still performs his speech to the deaf crowd gathered/ And all of them listening with hypnotic curiosity Still they are no work of art, however in comparison to most of the lyrics on the album, these are excellent.
Musically the album is riddled with blast beats, technical guitars, and atmospheric keyboards. As previously mentioned Orion also plays guitar for Vesania, and he does so very well. His writing style is very similar to that of Nergal, his band mate in Behemoth, in the respect that many of the riffs and rhythms on the album are very linear, and don't repeat very often. The guitar sound is very distorted and crunchy, adding to the overall heaviness of the album. Many of his riffs incorporate tremolo picking (or speed picking), which go along nicely with the relentless sound of Daray's double bass assault. The only downside as far as the guitars go is how they were ultimately mixed. The albums production is good overall, but fairly is somewhat inconsistent at certain points. It sounds as though the guitars were recorded too loud, and it turn sometimes the guitars are momentarily accompanied by a "fuzzy" sound.
Bassist Heinrich (Rootwater) does an excellent job of keeping up with Orion, and even throws in some bass fills every now and again. He can be easily heard through the whole album without being too overpowering, and also does a great job of adding to the wall of sound that is Daray's drumming. Much like the guitars though, the bass has moments when it sounds unclear and muddy; fortunately though, the moments when it occurs are brief and pass quickly.
Skinsman Daray (Vader/Neolithic) does an excellent job. He doesn't just use blast beats for the entirety of the album, but instead incorporates some simpler beats underneath the chaos. That is not to say however, that he doesn't show off a bit. His blast beats are fast and powerful, and the fills he incorporates in the songs are a nice addition. His feet are also fast, but nothing that hasn't been heard in extreme metal before. However, just because it's nothing new doesn't mean it still can't be impressive.
Last but not least comes the keyboards. Siegmar does a good job overall of creating a dark atmosphere through the album, but for the most part he just follows the guitar lines. There are some places in the songs that scream for a solo, but there are none. His playing is actually rather disappointing because of its simplicity; and even though less can be more, in this case more would have been amazing.
All in all,
God the Lux is a fine extreme metal/blackened death metal album, that is more than worth the time to listen to despite it's few production flaws. With tracks like "God the Lux", "Posthuman Kind", and "Legions Are Me"
God the Lux will be a nice addition to any metal collection. This album is a nice snapshot of where Vesania was: in between the raw
Firefrost Arcanum and the well produced, symphonic "Distractive Killusions."
Pros:
- Orion's Voice
- Rhythm Section
- ..
violence
Cons:
- Some production flaws
Standout Tracks:
God the Lux
Posthuman Kind
Legions Are Me
Lumen Clamosum
