Tech Death Thursday: Godeater – All Flesh is Grass
Vegan tech death. Three words you probably weren’t expecting to see together today.
News:
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- Singularity released a new single from their upcoming Place of Chains. Check this one out if you want some tastefully blackened tech, and look for the full album on October 11th from The Artisan Era.
- Black Crown Initiate has a new jam out, and I dig it a fair bit, regardless of what certain Toilet news columnists may say. It reminds me a bit of their first EP, and that’s very much a good thing.
- Hath put out one of the nastiest albums of 2019 thus far, and you can see them working some of their magic in this new playthrough video for “Currents.”
Is it just me, or do a lot of leftist bands suck?
Not to shit on the entire movement—it’s good that people are trying to make a statement—but I feel like for every Stallion and Venom Prison out there, there’re ten shitty lo-fi grind bands or dudes trying to pull the Neckbeard Deathcamp shtick without realizing the war metal veneer is part of the joke. I’m not above buying something as a show of solidarity, but getting some actual riffs out of the deal would be nice too. Conversely, it would also be nice to hear more tech death bands writing meaningful lyrics. I love the genre, but so few bands seem to try to say anything pertinent with their music.
The dudes in Godeater seem to have thought the same. All Flesh is Grass focuses on the radical notion that, hey, Earth is a pretty nice place that we should maybe work a little harder to protect. It’s very much cut from the same cloth as Gojira and Cattle Decapitation, and it’s delivered with similar intensity. The message is delivered with a mixture of anger and horror—perfect for death metal.
Of course, I am of the opinion that none of this matters if the music can’t keep up, but this is where Godeater really delivers. Their music is fairly archetypal melodic tech death, steeped in neoclassical progression and garnished with modern prog mannerisms. It feels part Vale of Pnath and part Flub with its mixture of dark melodies and synth-touched jaunty grooves.
One of the things that really sets this group apart is their willingness to let the music breathe. The boundless intensity typically employed by this style of band is tempered by strategic use of rests and open space. It makes the grooves (of which there are many) hit that much harder, and the overhead space it creates makes the mix feel a little less pushed. The production isn’t going to blow anyone’s mind, but it also doesn’t get in the way of the music, which is more than can be said for a lot of bands out there.
I guess what I’m trying to say here is that we need more bands like Godeater. They’ve found a message that they’re willing to spread, and they rightfully decided that the best vehicle for that message is a bunch of sick riffs. Nobody wants to hear what your band has to say if you don’t have good music to back it up. All Flesh is Grass does it right, and even if you don’t give a damn about what they have to say, the music is good enough to carry itself. Do yourself a favor and get on this one right away.
All Flesh is Grass comes out tomorrow (September 27th) and is available on Bandcamp. You can stream it right now over at Metal Hammer, and you can follow Godeater on Facebook. That’s all for now, so until next time,
