God Am – Phylactery of the Decayed

God Am
Phylactery of the Decayed
Independent
★★★★

Exploding out of the confines of metal comes a new dawn for God Am. It has been a few years since we have heard new material from the Indy band. Phylactery of the Decayed is a creative surge and is everything your metal hearts would hope for because God Am has just levelled up.

Phylactery begins with an intro (the title track), per se, building up any audience in all of its 4k gaming soundtrack glory. That is not a far fetched observation when the following song, “Mordhau” is named after a Medieval video game. You immediately experience an enhanced style of versatility within God Am’s vast metal landscape. There is a madness that engulfs us as Cody Randall lends unpredictability to his vocals, The take away is Will Grimes’ amazing drum work that glistens with technicality.

God Am – Heretical Son

Their escapism seeps a smoky metallic green as psychedelic effects prowl through Joe Linville’s guitar tones. “Void in the Abyss” hollows out foundational work while keeping it within the gamut of the God Am universe. It bears resemblance of early Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath before the doors are unhinged and power chords amplify Randall’s vocals. This is a band who works to build each other up.

“Contagion” is pure metal power. Between bassist Jake Linville and the double pump of Grimes’ foot power, the aftershock is intense. What God Am does so well is not to make the listener complacent. When your senses get adjusted to a style or mood, they amplify their mood or transforms the song into a parallel dimension of grinding metal and muscle.

God Am – Void in the Abyss

And to end things on a furious tone, “Dissonance” is head bashing wild that puts this band front and center. Like a mad scientist, Randall and the guys twist and turn and convolute basic metal concepts into a disillusioned joy ride. You hear that to its full propensity on “Heretical Son.” Get ripped on this twisted underworld journey of metal mayhem.