Godthrymm – Distortions (Profound Lore)
Friday, 4th August 2023
One would be hard-pressed to find a better doom album in the fraught year of 2020 than Godthrymm’s Reflections. The product of former My Dying Bride guitarist-turned-vocalist-guitarist Hamish Glencross and ex-Anathema and My Dying Bride drummer Shaun Taylor-Steels, Godthrymm (who hail from the U.K.) upheld its country’s vast doom lineage and re-imagined it for the modern era. Perhaps the real kicker was the band’s innate ability to blend searing heaviness with searing sadness — an arduous task that causes most doom bands to stumble. Not Godthrymm. Three years removed from Reflections, Glencross and crew return with the massive Distortions.
The perpetual ache of Reflections has been toned down in favor of more immediate, jarring riffs — think of the bulldozing early Peaceville years when death metal was more than just an accessory. Glencross’s simple but highly effective riffs give opener “As Titans” and the following cut, “Devils,” a push tempered with crisp dynamics of the sullen variety. And let’s give Glencross a hand for his vocals that are suitably weathered but always ready for a hook, particularly on the aforementioned “Devils” and “Follow Me,” which includes a guest spot from esteemed My Dying Bride frontman Aaron Stainthorpe.
The album reaches its inevitable depressive climax with “Pictures Remain,” which is caressed by the vocals of Glencross’s wife (and keyboardist) Catherine. The female Glencross is sublimely hushed amid minor chord touches and sparseness, leading to the Guitar Solo of 2023 (Caps for emphasis) from Mr. Glencross, then spirals into oblivion with twin guitar melodies. (Glencross’s former Vallenfyre bandmate and Paradise Lost guitarist extraordinaire, Greg Mackintosh, would undoubtedly tip his cap.) And with that, Godthrymm cements its standing as the decade’s most pivotal new doom outfit.
