This is the debut album from Finnish death metal band Ligation.
After Gods is billed as a full album, although it actually only contains 24 minutes of new music, spread over five tracks. However, there’s also a version with three additional bonus tracks that have been taken from Ligation’s previous two split releases, which brings the total up to 41 minutes. Either way, it’s an unconventional approach, but then Ligation’s music is unconventional too.
The Ligation style is an atypical blending of doom and noise elements together into an experimental death metal base. It’s a twisted creation of warped otherworldly entities, and it has somehow made its way into our plane of existence. Be glad that it has.
After Gods is an album that’s remarkably infectious. The merging of doom and death metal takes place at a genetic level, manifesting in an uncommon way. It’s like Ligation have decided to be both a doom band and a death metal band simultaneously. Not only this, but different strains of these styles too. Across the songs you’ll hear situational influences from stoner doom, sludge, and old-school death/doom, alongside classic and avant-garde death metal. Sometimes all at the same time. And this is to say nothing of the more experimental/noise/industrial aspects of the album.
It sounds like a lot, and it is, but amazingly After Gods is not the hideous mess it could so easily have been. Instead, it’s hideously good. The songs have actual memorable moments, and you can even dance to them if you were so minded, at least in places. Ligation also have a lot of riffs that just do not quit. They’re frequently unusual, striking, and/or captivating. The inhuman vocals also have an unexpected amount of personality, as well as a surprisingly emotive delivery here and there.
A record like this is hard to provide decent refence points for, but After Gods struck me as a mix of different parts from bands such as -(16)-, Ad Nauseam, Ministry, and Pissgrave – at least, extremely roughly. Such is the nature of Ligation’s music that you can almost certainly come up with a completely different set of bands and still be in the right ballpark.
After Gods takes time to untangle, but is worth working on. Ligation have assembled a striking collection of songs.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 