Reviewed by Greg Sammons

At the start of this year I caught this band live and was bowled over by the energy and passion they oozed. The one flaw they possessed was a slight lack of diversity; that was until right at the end of their set they played their brand new song "Godless Armageddon". A fresh slab of metalcore that is equal in musical and lyrical energy, with powerful and simple lyrics such as "God gives me something on which I can rely/God gives me something on which I can die.' It is therefore no surprise that this track forms one of the highlights of their debut EP, but it is a surprise that it may have been surpassed by the opening and title track "God Embrace". The outro of the former is a superb use of breakdown, whilst it is the opening of the latter that provides the perfect start to this CD. When I saw them live more recently I thought they had taken a more true metal route but the EP still shows their greatest influence comes from the noisecore/metalcore bands, particularly Norma Jean. As well as the first two tracks of the EP giving the CD a strong start, the last track "Psalm 77" is also good quality. Despite their style of music, the band ably manages to get their message across in their lyrics, an honourable achievement by itself - but certainly helped by the remarkably good production considering the limited budget the band no doubt had.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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