Godless – Swarm – EP Review
Artist: Godless
Album Title: Swarm EP
Label: Independent
Date of Release: 27 October 2018
The subcontinent has never been the greatest exponent of heavy metal but as the years go by, a few more names have made it into the consciousness of the metal masses. To date, Demonic Resurrection remain arguably the best known but with a population over 1.3 billion in India alone, it can only be a matter of time until there’s a challenger to the throne. The latest to try is the Hyderabad-based Godless, with their new EP, ‘Swarm’.
‘Swarm’ is the sophomore EP from a quintet-turned-quartet who formed in 2015 and since then, have been gaining a reputation in their homeland as a quality extreme metal outfit. Currently comprised of vocalist Kaushal LS, bassist Abbas Razvi, guitarist Ravi Nidamarthy and drummer Aniketh Yadav following the departure of guitarist Rohit Nair in 2017, Godless are best described as a death/thrash hybrid, with an emphasis on death metal.
2017 wasn’t all bad for Godless however, thanks to an appearance at Wacken Open Air having won the Metal Battle India competition, and support slots with Psycroptic and Mindshift in their native homeland. In fact, it was these experiences alongside acclaim for their debut EP that ended up being the catalyst for ‘Swarm’.
Musically, this new EP is billed as being heavier, thrashier and faster than the debut and I’d tend not to disagree. This five-track affair certainly takes no prisoners. It begins with an unsettling but largely redundant horror soundtrack complete with the sounds of malevolent creatures. However, it isn’t long before ‘Infected By The Black’ blasts into existence with a ferocity that’s ear-catching, the thrash influences certainly evident within the death metal core. What is also noticeable within this opening demonstration of savage aggression is the amount of groove that the song delivers. It might be heavy and uncompromising, but when the groove is unleashed, there’s a proper swagger to be heard.
It is fair to say that ‘Swarm’ is not the most sophisticated of releases. The five tracks last for less than 16 minutes in total, in which time we’re battered over the head with fiery and caustic riffs, blastbeats aplenty and some wonderfully savage growls.
It is also fair to say that the output on this EP is not the most original either. But it is hard to argue with the music when it is just so energetic, bruising and so full of no-nonsense groove. ‘From Beyond’ kicks off with a slightly looser feel but soon injects more irresistible head banging fodder, delivered with apparent ease, as if it is woven into the quartet’s DNA. The gurning vocal delivery within ‘Deathcult’ is reminiscent to that of Obituary’s John Tardy in places in what is an incendiary track, full of muscular death metal swagger.
The only real negative on ‘Swarm’, is it’s length. Based on the abilities of Godless, I can’t believe that it would have been beyond their capabilities to pen a full-length album. As it is, we must make do with just four songs for the time being, albeit four very decent songs that are certain to raise the Godless profile that little bit higher.
The Score of Much Metal: 8
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IZV84GDZvg&w=560&h=315]
If you’ve enjoyed this review, you can check out my others from 2018 and from previous years right here:
2017 reviews
2016 reviews
2015 reviews
Universe Effects – Desolation
Kalidia – The Frozen Throne
Rikard Sjoblom’s Gungfly – Friendship
Ashes of Ares – Well of Souls
Veonity – Legend of the Starborn
Bloodbath – The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn
Nochnoy Dozor – Nochnoy Dozor EP
Vola – Applause of a Distant Crowd
Lost In Thought – Renascence
Into Eternity – The Sirens
Fifth Angel – The Third Secret
Ashes of my Memory – Raptures /// Disillusions EP
Anathema – Internal Landscapes
Samskaras – Lithification
Seventh Dimension – The Corrupted Lullaby
Hate Eternal – Upon Desolate Sands
Witherfall – A Prelude To Sorrow
Northward – Northward
Seventh Wonder – Tiara
Warrel Dane – Shadow Work
Haken – Vector
Beyond Creation – Algorythm
Ultha – The Inextricable Wandering
Amaranthe – Helix
Ghost Ship Octavius – Delirium
Decembre Noir – Autumn Kings
The Odious Construct – Shrine of the Obscene
Fauna Timbre – Altering Echoes
The Moor – Jupiter’s Immigrants
Revocation – The Outer Ones
Riverside – Wasteland
Ethernity – The Human Race Extinction
Dynazty – Firesign
Deicide – Overtures of Blasphemy
Brainstorm – Midnight Ghost
Krisiun – Scourge of the Enthroned
Kingcrow – The Persistence
Cast The Stone – Empyrean Atrophy
Omnium Gatherum – The Burning Cold
Helion Prime – Terror of the Cybernetic Space Monster
Madder Mortem – Marrow
A Dying Planet – Facing The Incurable
Árstíðir – Nivalis
Mob Rules – Beast Reborn
The Spirit – Sounds From The Vortex
Aethereus – Absentia
Unanimated – Annihilation
Manticora – To Kill To Live To Kill
Rivers of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name
Halcyon Way – Bloody But Unbowed
Michael Romeo – War Of The Worlds, Part 1
Redemption – Long Night’s Journey Into Day
Distorted Harmony – A Way Out
Tomorrow’s Eve – Mirror of Creation III – Project Ikaros
Atrocity – Okkult II
Lux Terminus – The Courage To Be
Kataklysm – Meditations
Marduk – Viktoria
Midas Fall – Evaporate
The Sea Within – The Sea Within
Haken – L-1VE
Follow The Cipher – Follow The Cipher
Spock’s Beard – Noise Floor
Ihsahn – Amr
The Fierce And The Dead – The Euphoric
Millennial Reign – The Great Divide
Subsignal – La Muerta
At The Gates – To Drink From The Night Itself
Dimmu Borgir – Eonian
Hekz – Invicta
Widow’s Peak – Graceless EP
Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik – Hugsjá
Frequency Drift – Letters to Maro
Æpoch – Awakening Inception
Crematory – Oblivion
Wallachia – Monumental Heresy
Skeletal Remains – Devouring Mortality
MØL – Jord
Aesthesys – Achromata
Kamelot – The Shadow Theory
Barren Earth – A Complex of Cages
Memoriam – The Silent Vigil
Kino – Radio Voltaire
Borealis – The Offering
W.E.T. – Earthrage
Auri – Auri
Purest of Pain – Solipsis
Susperia – The Lyricist
Structural Disorder – …And The Cage Crumbles In the Final Scene
Necrophobic – Mark of the Necrogram
Divine Realm – Nordicity
Oceans of Slumber – The Banished Heart
Poem – Unique
Gleb Kolyadin – Gleb Kolyadin
Apathy Noir – Black Soil
Deathwhite – For A Black Tomorrow
Conjurer – Mire
Jukub Zytecki – Feather Bed/Ladder Head
Lione/Conti – Lione/Conti
Usurpress – Interregnum
Kælling – Lacuna
Vinide – Reveal
Armored Dawn – Barbarians In Black
Long Distance Calling – Boundless
In Vain – Currents
Harakiri For The Sky – Arson
Orphaned Land – Unsung Prophets And Dead Messiahs
Tribulation – Down Below
Machine Head – Catharsis
Bjorn Riis – Coming Home EP
Twilight’s Embrace – Penance EP
Bloodshot Dawn – Reanimation
Rise of Avernus – Eigengrau
Arch Echo – Arch Echo
Asenblut – Legenden
Bleeding Gods – Dodekathlon
Watain – Trident Wolf Eclipse
