Album Review: God Dethroned - The Judas Paradox
Reviewed by Rich Oliver
Veteran Dutch death metallers God Dethroned are back with their twelfth album - and their third album post-reformation. Frontman and guitarist Henri Sattler may be the only original member of the band remaining but this band has always been his baby and he has surrounded himself with a fine group of musicians to produce “The Judas Paradox” which is an album that lyrically “delves deep into the catacombs of religion, drawing inspiration from mythology from all over the world” whilst musically is the same ferocious death metal attack that God Dethroned are known for.
God Dethroned haven’t really played straight death metal since their early days always having a good ear for melody whilst bringing in some elements from black metal and that is still the case on “The Judas Paradox” with some songs which mix vicious ferocity with a keen melodic sensibility such as the fantastic ‘Rat Kingdom’ and the ripping ‘Asmodeus’ though some songs have a more atmospheric feel about them such as the title track which opens the album which has the inclusion of some clean vocals as well as the trademark throaty roar from Henri.
You also get songs like ‘Kashmir Princess’ and ‘Hubris Anorexia’ where the band show a different side with the inclusion of keyboard parts and symphonic sections. “The Judas Paradox” then finishes with the double whammy of ‘Broken Bloodlines’ and ‘War Machine’ which are two of the most crushing songs on the album.
God Dethroned have always been a solid and reliable death metal band and “The Judas Paradox” is a further strong release from them. It definitely has its highlights as well as some songs which fall along the wayside and can be a bit forgettable but when this album strikes it right it sounds excellent. This is some intense death metal which isn’t afraid to incorporate some melody but it does it not at the expense of the extremity. 33 years into their career, God Dethroned show that they haven’t lost their touch.
