Year: 2020
Total Time: 36:48
Label: Metal Blade
Eleventh album for the Dutch Death Metallers GOD DETHRONED, a band which since 1991 works very hard, as every of its release is from remarkable to very good! Especially from 1992 to 1999, when GOD DETHRONED released three great albums “The Christhunt”, “The Grand Grimoire” and “Bloody Blasphemy” the band showed that its ready for the next step. However things went into a difference direction. The Dutch continue to release album every two years but the repetition I believe led the metal fans into losing their interest. The band in 2010 seemed inactive and there were rumors that they’ve split up. Fortunately, they returned in 2017 with the album “The World Ablaze” and now, 3 years later, they are back with a new release entitled “Illuminati”.
If anyone expects to hear GOD DETHRONED of the “Bloody Blasphemy” and “The Grand Grimoire” years, he will be disappointed by “Illuminati”. The album moves primarily in mid-tempo rhythms with modern production, having nowhere the “raw” moments (unfortunately) of the glorious past. There are some fast parts influenced by Thrash Metal genre but I would say they are balanced; A few blast beats can be found while the solos create a Heavy Metal feeling. So we’re dealing with a good “commercial” Death Metal record. While listening to the album, KATAKLYSM came to my mind. A band which in the recent years has modernized its sound, being a shadow of is great. Fortunately GOD DETHRONED in “Illuminati” have not reached yet such a low point and the new record is sounded pleasantly.
Concluding, with “Illuminati” GOD DETHRONED leave behind their Blackened Death Metal past; they sound refreshed (a thing that many Death Metal fans will like) while they manage not to become boring (the length of the album helps). Also the new album is quite superior to their previous record “The World Ablaze”. Those of you who have discovered GOD DETHRONED with the albums “The Lair of the White Worm” and “The Toxic Touch” will love the new album. The rest of us who are nostalgic, just look back on the band’s blasphemous brutal past and move on.
Rating: 6,5/10
Editor: Nikos Manousis
Related Link: GOD DETHRONED – Facebook Page
