God Damn – Everything Ever
Last year I was lucky enough to see the Foo Fighters perform in Manchester’s Old Trafford cricket stadium. As the venue filled in the few hours before the main event, 2 young, long haired guys walked confidently onto stage and began playing; one on drums, one on guitar and vocals. The music was unapologetic, hard hitting, heavy rock music. The hair was thrown back and forth and guitars were broken. What a way to start the show.
The band was called God Damn, soon to be releasing their impressive second album, Everything Ever, on the 23rd of September.
The 13-track offering is 42 minutes of heavy, riff driven rock. Much like a heavier and punk-driven Royal Blood (in fact the band jokily apologised on stage for not being so, given that soon to be cancelled Foos shows were due feature Royal Blood). So if you plan on listening all the way through, be prepared. Despite this, the album is sure to see God Damn work their way upwards in the rock scene. The songs are expertly crafted blend of punk, heavy, rock and even pop with choruses that would be welcome on radio stations across the world. Everything Ever lives in the balance between these sounds. The pop and classic rock influences heard throughout almost restrain the thrashing and screaming, and that is a good thing. It strikes a chord with rock listeners of all kinds, there is something for everyone. The duo have shown a movement forward from their 2015 debut offering, Vultures.
I’ll start at the end, with the haunting ‘Easily Misbled’. Eerie harmony and distorted vocals provide the characteristic God Damn sound. You can hear the coarseness and general nastiness in the song, despite its slower tempo and lighter overall feel. It sounds generally purer and more stripped back and raw than other tracks. This point of difference is the only one of its nature on the album, with all other songs incorporating big riffs and screaming vocals, in a more metal-like amalgamation.
One of these is the leading track, ‘Sing This’, a song the band premiered last week. It never fails to impress me how a two-piece band can create such a sonic atmosphere (listen also to ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Violence’, and basically all other tracks). It is full a full on auditory experience, something I know the band can recreate even in the largest arenas. It retains interest and melodic craft in spite of the towering guitar riffs. The drums equal the guitar’s stature, providing the ever important backbone to the band’s signature sound. Crashing cymbals and strong snare hits pepper the album throughout.
The album flies through an array of well-crafted songs in a blur of gain and volume. Every song sounds uniquely God Damn, and unique in their own right on this record. The duo have established themselves as an up and coming force in the UK music industry, and with this release I don’t see their rise stopping at any point soon. This is surely an album worthy of recognition and praise, give it a go.
Release Date 23/09/2016 (One Little Indian Records)
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I am a third year music student at the University of Leeds and am passionate about experiencing music. In my view, being able to hear, see and appreciate the human involvement in playing an instrument or singing is the most important thing.
