God Forbid
Gone Forever (Century Media)
By Martin Popoff
In the two and a half years since God Forbid‘s Determination icebreaker, the melodic metalcore moshpail has expanded by about 20 credible bands. Thankfully, New Jersey’s finest bionic pioneers kick, scratch, and claw against becoming obsolete. Sure, they keep it conservative (resentment at the band’s modest success and less modest hype should be kept in check), brush-stroking all the necessary fields (In Flames riffs, roaring and singing, artful twin leads, breakdown-vibed grooves, tom-toms), but God Forbid manage to hold one of the front positions simply by writin’ good and recordin’ good. Produced by little-known Eric Rachel and mixed by Colin Richardson, Gone Forever is a plush, hi-fidelity feat of modern metal, epic often despite short tracks (and a short running time of 41 minutes), high art born from strife, for indeed, the band was in danger of breaking up throughout the record’s birth as well as all the crap touring through Dante’s rings of hell a band this heavy has to endure.
(2323 W. El Segundo Blvd. Hawthorne, CA 90250)