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Gods Of War

      
         
         
         
     
             
Reverence are a power metal band from the USA formed in 2010 who released their debut album in 2012 and embarked on a successful tour of Europe, the UK and America throughout 2013. Their second album 'Gods Of War' was released in 2015.    
             
Opening the album with the title song 'Gods Of War' ... fucking heavy or what! Ferocious, brutal and in your face, 'Gods Of War' is aggressive enough to destroy anything that is stupid enough to stand in its way. The guitars are heavy, the rhythm section is devastating and the vocals are so powerful yet also clean and clear. Power metal meets heavy metal with a great big huge bang and the new album by Reverence has exploded into life. And talking of exploding, 'Heart Of Gold' ups the tempo and thunders off like an enraged herd of rhino...unstoppable rhythms and blistering guitars, 'Heart Of Gold' is reminiscent of (early) Hellloween (when Kai Hansen was lead singer). Superb pace and power expertly twinned with catchy rhythms and traditional power metal style vocals, this is an excellent head banger of a song. Brutality and force hits you hard with 'Until My Dying Breath'. Heavy guitar riffing and a foot stomping mosh pit frenzy of a vibe 'Until My Dying Breath' will not just knock your socks off but also knock you into orbit.    
             
'Gods Of War' (the album) has opened with a triple salvo that is ferocious enough to destroy an entire planet. And the wave of destruction doesn't stop there. 'Angel In Black' delivers a force close to annihilation, brutal riffs, thundering rhythms, all the while keeping the vocals clean, making the album attractive to all manner of genres. The album production and mix is top notch and the musicianship on show is top quality. With a title that pretty much sums up the sound of Reverence 'Tear Down The Mountain' is most likely gonna do so and just leave a smouldering crater where the mountain stood. Even volcanoes stand no chance with Reverence on the rampage. 'Tear Down The Mountain' is a monster of epic proportions with a blistering guitar solo and a pumping back line that drives the song on relentlessly. Can the album get better? Damn right it can...'Blood Of Heroes' changes pace to a mid tempo romp, retaining the brutal force, the ferocious rhythm and an involuntary need to stamp your feet, bang your head and punch the air.    
             
With an album full of so much power and force, lesser mortals would be crushed by now, but for all the true, die hard, men of steel metal heads (like myself) we are standing tall and screaming "bring it on". And bring it on do Reverence with 'Battle Cry', a rip roaring explosion of guitars, drums and screaming vocals. With no break for a breather 'Battle Cry' has an anthemic style chorus, a screaming shred of a guitar solo and an urgent, relentless pace. With a very heavy, doom inspired and laden intro 'Choices Made' chugs into life and like a pneumatic drill, the rhythm is relentless and liable to shatter concrete. Yet, the chorus is so catchy and sing a long, Reverence have somehow managed to create the perfect blend of heavy metal, hard rock and power metal.    
             
For the faint of heart, 'Splinter' offers a breather from the relentless, ferocious pace and power of the album. Sounding like it should fall into the ballad category, 'Splinter' is actually a little too heavy to be classed as a ballad. A sparkling vocal performance and superb guitar work complimented by a soulful rhythm 'Splinter' is the calm before the storm ... and the storm arrives in the shape of 'Cleansed By Fire'. Upping the intensity and ferociousness 'Cleansed By Fire' returns the album to the rollicking enjoyment of powerful power metal with its blistering guitars, galloping rhythms and clean and clear vocals. Reverence have produced an album that comes close to perfection and is great on every level, yet all great things do come to an end and sadly (insert unhappy face here) the album does come to a end. But not without one last hurrah...'Race To Obscene' is high tempo, high energetic power metal with the signature Reverence sound of chugging guitars, thunderous rhythm, cracking vocals and an insatiable desire to head bang and foot stomp like a maniac.    
             
Overall, if ever you wanted perfection in an album, you have it here... fans of heavy metal will drool with excitement and head bang long into the night.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Metal Gods TV    
             
             
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