God Dethroned – The Judas Paradox (Review)

God Dethroned are a blackened death metal band from the Netherlands, and this is their twelfth album.

God Dethroned may have been around for over three decades, but they’ve lost none of their fiery intensity. The Judas Paradox contains 44 minutes of their well-crafted brand of blackened death metal, showing once again what they’re capable of.

It’s an album that’s easy to enjoy. The songs are well-written and professionally rendered, making good use of dark melodies, occult riffs, and infectious hooks. It’s a black/death metal hybrid, combining elements of both into a meaty meal of extreme metal for the listener to bite down on. The vocals are a mainly sinister harsh rasps, augmented by the occasional use of malevolent growls and tasteful clean singing. All are well-performed.

God Dethroned clearly know their work, and the music has an obvious quality to it. The first song – the title track – is an exemplar of this quality, which shines with considered songwriting and expressive feeling. The section with the solo is immaculate, and the orchestral ending understated, but effective. There are no blast beats to hide behind, and the song is very strong.

The rest of the tracks don’t let the side down either, and The Judas Paradox benefits from a decent degree of variety. There may be no blast beats in the first song, but fear not, as there are throughout the tracklist as a whole. The music has a lot of atmosphere, and also some interesting ideas that are well-realised – the later part of Kashmir Princess is a great example of this. Other songs, such as Hailing Death focus on riffing brutality, before once again expanding into rich atmospheric soundscapes and delicious catchiness.

I enjoyed this. God Dethroned’s latest outing delivers a solid album with many strengths. Charged with melodic energy and driven through with iron hooks, this is a satisfying example of blending black and death metal with rewarding results. Fans of band such as Behemoth, Belphegor, Hate, Hypocrisy, and Noctem should check this one out.