Andrew Danso

“The God Album” is based around a criticism toward religion and faith, somewhat in controversial circumstances, from an atheist point of view. It’s certainly always been in rock and metals veins to be the natural channel for social and political angst, but Monsterworks are hell bent on near dissecting various movements of faith in a clumsy intellectual approach, that really ought to be left with the actual intellectuals. More opinion than narrative, the lyrics come direct from the big book of atheist argument, “everything you believe is a lie”, “stigmata is a fraud”, “a false miracle never performed”, “God has abandoned you”, “Is it faith or running free?” you get the idea.

Whilst the concept may come across with a slight juvenile cynicism, thankfully their sound is raw, hungry, and complex. They’re able to combine thrash, progressive, and metal elements with fluidity, balancing time shifts with simplistic power chords, and blast drumming with chordal guitar progressions.

Time will tell if we’ll see Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens or Sam Harris carrying this around in their back pocket, in preparation for a debate. Regardless, this is punchy stuff, with the music carrying a hell of a lot more weight, than the outspoken views held by the band.

7/10 Powerplay issue #131