God Forbid: IV: Constitution of Treason

Pure metal bands usually leave me feeling less than enamored, but God Forbid is one of the few that I can legitimately say that I enjoy. Sure, there are quite a few uncouth vocal moments, but they’re more than satisfactory at the whole chug, thrash, speed-picking, dueling-high-pitched-harmonies thing.

Hey, sometimes I just want to hear some metal that isn’t overly (and overtly) unlikable.

Divided into three articles (get it?), IV: Constitution of Treason offers up 99 short tracks (10 songs) of furious, old-fashioned riffing. Clean and acoustic guitars make a little more of a cameo than on albums past, but the most welcomed surprise comes at the end of “The Lonely Dead” (tracks 31-40). After roughly five minutes of melodic metal jams, a semi-somber piano takes over to finish things off, even if it’s only for a minute. Naturally, it’s immediately back to the metal after that.

Most of the non-screamed vocals are downright cheesy, but if you can get past that, then take this album for what it is: an excuse to head-bang. At some point, God Forbid’s songs start to run together, but before that, it’s a big metal riff-mania. Think of this as a semi-guilty pleasure.

- Scott Morrow
God Forbid (Century Media Records)