In all fairness to India’s GODLESS, when States Of Chaos came across my desk, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Nothing to do with the name, we’re past that. My lack of interest was born of a general “meh” reaction to most death metal of varieties other than Swedish or the classics – you know, DEATH, GORGUTS, IMMOLATION, etc. – and dislike of almost all new thrash output.
‘Malevolent’ begins living up to its name, no annoying intro track to wade through. There’s just something “off” about the tone that bugs me, though. Bass-heavy with raw guitars, it’s exactly what I should be all over, but it seems as if a few good riffs were tossed onto the floor and tacked onto each other with no concern for memorability. ‘Descent’ works well as a prelude to ‘Netherworld’, ominous, a harbinger of things to come…and then back into to the mishmash we fall, grasping for any semblance of cohesion.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m all about the chaotic death metal, sonically obtuse black metal, so forth, but GODLESS isn’t really taking me anywhere. I want the band to draw/pull/yank me into its universe for the playing time of the song, if not the entire album, and I’m just not getting that from what’s on offer here. ‘Cormorant’ is the high point, if I were pressed to choose, and is the one song I could see myself listening to again, maybe more than once. The band playing it loose, but with discernable riffs and actual thought put to the arrangement, and it pays off for them, showing what the quintet could be, maybe, possibly, in time.
I think I see what GODLESS is going for, but aside from a few other “Oh, that’s pretty cool” moments, this is nothing any of us haven’t heard before. You’ve got to stand out almost from the start these days, and States Of Chaos barely stands up to be counted.
Review By: Lord Randall
GODLESS
States Of Chaos
Independent
1.5 / 6