God Forbid - Equilibrium (2012)Release ID: 6252
It's been almost 7 years as of this review since God Forbid split up, and most of their albums still live on as pieces of metalcore history, especially IV: Constitution of Treason, which is absolutely brilliant metal right there that none of their other albums can surpass. And the album after that, Earthsblood display the band's highest progressive point of talent. Seriously, nothing else by God Forbid can be as awesome as those two albums...except for one final album, Equilibrium (not to be confused with the German epic folk metal band). This is another God Forbid album you'll never regret!
Equilibrium is an album that you can find and pick up on the web or buy at your local music store, and when you start playing it, you realize that's an emerald gem from a band you've been missing out all this time. The album can kick your a**, f***ing snap your neck with its headbanging riffs, and wrench your gut with extreme and emotional vocals. How the f***ing h*ell can Byron Davis' vocals be any better and more suitable?! Both God Forbid and fellow NWOAHM band Shadows Fall have a couple things in common; an irreplaceable lead vocalist, and they shared one of their last tours before splitting up or going on hiatus. The guitars have beautiful solos that range from heavy and strong to soft and intricate. The drumming never goes over the top while never going quiet, and you would keep finger-tapping to the beat song after song.
Starting in a positive note, "Don’t Tell Me What to Dream" kicks off with a Meshuggah-like riff as Byron Davis shouts that command, "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DREAM!!!" The song's defiant breakdown rhythms are unbreakable with the help of drummer Corey Pierce and bassist John "Beeker" Outcalt. Byron Davis does some new experiments with his voice in "My Rebirth" such as the King Diamond-like high shriek in the first verse. Guitarists Doc Coyle and, replacing his brother Dallas, Matt Wicklund crank up the catchy riffs, crispy breakdowns, and soaring leads, all tuned below the standard E (drop C tuning). The title of "A Few Good Men" reminds you of that movie where Jack Nicholson yells "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!" The song itself is a good thrasher. "Scraping the Walls" is probably the closest you would get to a God Forbid power ballad in the verses. The chorus is an epic layered blast that slams you to a brick wall, screaming for live crowd participation.
The insane lyrical attitude continues in "Conquer", sounding like Byron Davis is screaming for his life as he's being dragged into the asylum of hell. The title track begins with beautiful clean guitar/synth before continuing the heaviness with heavenly guitar and drums. It almost reminds of the melodic Darkest Hour at the time! The insane attitude comes in again in "Overcome". That song, along with the haunting "Cornered", spread synths through a bit of the song, especially the pre-chorus.
The vocals in the beginning of "This is Who I Am" sounds a little forced by the clean guitar arpeggio. The rest of his clean vocal performance is fantastic, dominating his shouting vocals more than ever while still intertwining with them. The main riffs of "Move On" return to the band's classic thrashy metalcore. "Pages" shows the epic heavy climax of some of the last pages of one of the last chapters of the last volume of the God Forbid discography. Then the second-to-last chapter, "Awakening" is a throwaway instrumental that's barely part of the story. The djent riffs there are pretty decent, followed by a cool shredding lead, all reminiscent of The Contortionist, but then it ends abruptly, causing that track to be an unnecessary detraction from the overall theme. Then the final volume really ends with the final chapter, "Where We Come From". The band's classic thrash-metalcore riffing shows how much they miss Dallas Coyle's time in the band and honor his songwriting influences. That kinda ignores Wicklund's contributed creativity, but still, there's no better way to say farewell than to avenge a departed member.
Equilibrium has the most amount of songs in a God Forbid album, 13! They're probably like, "Scr*w superstition", am I right? And none of them disappoint! God Forbid really went out in a bang with one of the best farewell albums I've heard in a long time. Well done, God Forbid!! Thank you for this music, your last chance to create....
Favorites: "Don’t Tell Me What to Dream", "Scraping the Walls", "Equilibrium", "This is Who I Am", "Pages", "Where We Come From"
