Another Successful Metal Offering
Although God Dethroned formed over 15 years ago they have undergone some major lineup shifts of late, with only vocalist/guitarist Henri 'T.S.K' Sattler remaining from their early days. "The Toxic Touch" is the second album from the new look version of the band, and no doubt they're hoping for a repeat of the warm critical response accorded to their last release, 2004's "The Lair of the White Worm".
Well, they're not going to get too hard a time from me. God Dethroned operate in that glorious hinterland between brutal thrash and Swedish-style melodic death metal, and bloody good at it they are too. Raspy vocals slobber over the top of some pounding drums and very fine guitar work as the band gnaw at some prime thrash riffs almost worthy of Slayer (and I'm taking about the mighty metal behemoths of old, not the limp-wristed has-beens who recorded "Christ Illusion"). And after two years of intensive touring in support of their last LP the new lineup certainly sounds as tight as Tinkerbell's privates.
The band have purposefully minimised the number of blast beats employed on "The Toxic Touch" on the grounds that they're as boring as watching dry paint get dryer in the live situation. The blast is now used judiciously as an explosion, a point of release, rather than an omnipresent battering ram. And as much as I love having my face stoved in by some non-stop blasting grind, I have to concede that God Dethroned have a point; the power of the blast is brought into sharper focus when it is used more sparingly.
Some of the lyrics are endearingly crap - 'Typhoid Mary' in particular is a humdinger - and "The Toxic Touch" won't set your world on fire, but do you really want that anyway? All of your Iron Maiden memorabilia would melt, for one thing. What this album will do is get you banging your head with a great big grin on your stupid face, and there's no finer achievement in this otherwise soulless world than that.
The front cover is shit, though.