God Forbid
Determination

September 2001
Released: 2001, Century Media
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Rick

"The five men of God Forbid are prepared to shatter the ‘white male’ stereotype of metal bands and fans as the predominantly black metalcore band unwhirls its furious new album DETERMINATION." This is how the press release for this album starts off and since I couldn’t think of anything better I borrowed it!!Of course it also includes the term metalcore. Another in the long list of metal "subgenres". Well regardless of what GF call themselves they have put together a fairly decent CD with DETERMINATION. Hailing from New Brunswick, New Jersey, God Forbid have been together for 4 years and in that time have released 2 CDs besides DETERMINATION called REJECT THE SICKNESS and OUT OF MISERY. The lineup is John Oucalt: bass, Byron Davis: vocals, Dallas Coyle: guitar, Doc Coyle: guitar and Corey Pierce: drums.



I have to admit that melody is often what guides me to certain CDs and bands. As I listened to this CD I found the melody that I was looking for but it was wrapped in a package of angry tunes. The angry overtones of songs such as "Nothing" and "Go Your Own Way" cannot be ignored. On these songs the band launches into an almost thrashy delivery complete with the sand papered vocals of Davis to add the dirty edge. The songs that interested me more were the tracks where the band added a bit of melody to their voracious assault. "Divide My Destiny" is one of the first tracks that caught my ear. While it does have its savage moments it also has a vibe that reminds me of Nevermore in places. Some of the standout tracks on the CD were the instrumental "God’s Last Gift" and "Determination Part I" and "Part II". Again these songs are a great blend of power, anger and melody.



One thing that I have to say is that the metalcore tag is one of the reasons that I didn’t have this CD reviewed for last month. I would just look at it and , not being a fan of metalcore, always passed it over. I finally buckled down and listened and it’s a pretty good release. Quite a bit more thrashy than I expected and a damn bit more melodic too. To check out more about God Forbid visit their website http://www.godforbid.com/