Gods & Punks is a Brazilian doom metal band, who formed in 2013. Their latest release, “Death,” is their fifth full-length album; they have already five EPs and a live album under their belt as well.
The South American doom scene is crazy good and I can’t think of one band from the scene that I haven’t enjoyed. Somehow, this album is the first time I’m hearing of Gods & Punks brand of doom…and I’m blown away.
“Death,” is a doom metal album, pretty close to stoner/psychedelic tendencies with some rock and roll elements. This particularly genre is stuffed to the brim with all kinds of bands of varying qualities. Do we need one more? Yes, yes we do. Why? Because “Death” is a fresh sounding album with a unique approach.
It isn’t any one thing that makes it unique—the overall album just sounds different from anything else I’ve heard from the stoner genre this year. Maybe it’s the vocals, which are expressive and equal parts hazy and soaring. Perhaps it’s the rock and roll aesthetic that makes their brand of doom especially catchy and smooth. Oh I know what it is. It has to be the Gothic, gloomy atmosphere that most stoner bands don’t have. Oh wait…it’s actually the progressive approach to the songs, infusing all these styles and little details into a sound that changes regularly but hangs onto its roots. Actually, it is all that.
Listen to the riffs on “Slowburner” and tell me they aren't catchy as hell. The vocals have a classic feel to them, a little distortion laced on top to add a certain swagger to their cadence.
The drums and bass compliment the song at just the right moments, lending the song a mighty beat and groove.
The chorus is an earworm and the overall energy is infectious. Of course the whole album has these qualities but as an opener, the song really smacks you on the face.
“The Night of a Thousand Days” offers slabs of fuzz within seconds, and the drums ring loud and true. The production and mix helps so much, it ha a vintage quality (I bet this album would sound amazing on vinyl) but modern enough to let the dynamics of the song to shine.
The riffs are crawling, picking up every piece of dirt and grit found along the way. I believe that's an organ in the background and it's icing on the cake. The ending is an unexpected but fantastic display of clean instrumentation.
“The Space Between The Spaces” showcases the album's dynamics and the band's willingness to step outside the box.
The beginning tribal, shamanistic and even a little cult. The clean guitar, including the leads, weave magic through the misty apperiations as ghostly cleans hang above.
A groove that could go on for days arrives, a little blues and good ol rock and roll mixed in. The song speeds up soon, the drums and bass driving it home, back to an intricate clean finish.
The final song, “Black Box” is a doozy. The beginning journey of the song is a country/gospel/rockabilly hybrid as it slowly but steadily builds up the doom.
Then it turns into a clean piano romp…And back up again with the riffs and leads. An utterly fantastic song.
Gods & Punks’ “Death” is a massive successful album that proves you can be metal as fuck while still stretching vast boundaries.
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