Review Summary: Extremely Blasphemous Black/Death Metal with amazing Compositions
If you're offending by blasphemous signatures, leave now.
Ok so do you know the feeling when your nerves are struck, when you feel awkward, as if you're doing something wrong and evil? Well this is the impression "Not of God" will give you. When you hear the vocalist Storm scream at you about Jesus being burned or destroyed you may feel a little uneasy. Anyone who knows God's name as mention in the bible know's it be Jehovah. When you hear vocal lines saying:
"Jehovah has failed"
You can't help but feel uneasy. This is as blasphemous as you can get. This review isn't praising such utterances, rather it's making the reader aware of what to expect. Much noteworthy aspects are the amazing compositions. The blending of tremolos and drums always work in perfect harmony with the lyrics being presented. As noted above, the lyrics "Jehovah has failed" is backed up by a desolate sounding atmosphere in "Heaven's Damnation".
"Not of God" has an overall very aggressive atmosphere but brings the groove hard and favors an accessible listen, but like said before the lyrics do not. The constant talk of demonic themes can be overwhelming for the listener. If it weren't a song with musical aspects you would pretty much be reading a book written by demon possessed man.
When you hear good music its nice to hear diversity. "Gravesite Rites" brings the variational onsets with fast, slow, solo, and sludgy passages causing a very enjoyable listen. The cohesiveness of the tracks makes "Not of God" an album that can be enjoyed as a whole unit rather than individual tracks. The sometimes catchy harmonies offset the overall aggression, but even than when you hear of daughters being rapped, aggression still lies within catchy phrases.
The vocal are very diverse and sometimes screamed and growls, or even whispered and talked out. They fluctuate through these phases quite often and provide the over all atmosphere of this album. The lyrics are able to be understood as well.
For an American Blackened Death Metal release in '97, Ever Dark make's a huge dent in history. Surprisingly their still active and probably haven't released anything since due to all the supposes backlash they received from such a blasphemous but well composed release. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO YOU!!!
