Not to be confused with the 1970’s psych/krautrock band of the same name, these Germans play some crazy-ass very interesting death metal. Golem breaths some life into a what (IMHO) is stale genre at the moment.
Despite the obvious influences/aspects that sound like Morbid Angel or Nile there are some interesting things going on here. Actually, the vocals are mixed up some parts sound like Abbath from Immortal or Satyr from Satyricon while the other parts are like Steve Tucker of M.A. There’s also al lot of it that reminds me of later-era Carcass.
Plus, If you’re looking for jackhammer drums this dude plays his drums like a fucking jackhammer. Admist all of the brutality, there is some melody. Interestingly the melodic parts recall Death (and possibly a few others like say, Atheist) and some prog-rock influences.
((((1)))) Brooding intro, slowly strummed guitar and...blast beats with some killer cymbal crashes. Overall a mix of Immortal & Morbid Angel with a touch of Atheist. Awesome thudding riffs towards the end, too.
((((2)))) Picks off where the previous one left off. More of a Morbid Angel influence but with simpler riffing & more cymbal crashes & a mix of Immortal (again). & a bit of a Death influence.
((((3)))) Crazy tempo with mixed up vocal lines & some jackhammer drumming. Plus, some crazyguitar solos & stuff. Progessive death metal at it finest!
((((4)))) Slow doomy riffing & pinch harmonics. Creeps along like Morbid Angel’s “Where the Slime Live” crossed with “Heartwork”-era Carcass. Awesome!
((((5)))) More over-the-top assaults mixing Immortal, Morbid Angel & later-era Carcass. Really solid riffing & excellent drum fills. Mixed up but yet catchy enough to keep you interested.
((((6)))) More of the same as the last one but some heavier breakdowns & some serious Michael Amott/Trey Azagoth sounding solos.
(((((7))))) Absurdly awesome & basic headbanging riffage! Thud-thud-thudding you over the head and some rad melodic soloing. Some of the scales almost sound like mid-period Voi Vod crossed with later Carcass.
((((8)))) Classy melodic intro think ‘Maiden or early 80’s ‘Priest (which is later repeated near the end) then it gets into --a charging, progressive death/thrash vibe.
((((9)))) Did you say you wanted it more brutal? Well here’s your chance! Uber-blast of drums & full scale assault. Later gets more mid-tempo & very rythmic overall. Jumps around in tempo a lot.
((((10)))) Holy shit they suddenly went from being Golem to Goblin! Horror-movie sounding keyboard/organ parts (that are screaming for a Dario Argento movie to join it) into slowish melodic black metal sounding not weirdly combines aspects of recent Dimmu Borgir and Goblin with succesful results.
((11)) Frightengly close to a “decent” Yngwie track
For some dumb reason there’s nothing on tracks 12-14
((((15))))) Starts with this weird, slow progged out noodling like Voi Vod jamming with (fellow space-metal travellers) Benighted Leams who just learned a few off-metered tempos from Robert Fripp & co.
AKA: A tremendously impressive blend of heavy metal & progessive rock in the best way possible.