God Dethroned ‘Illuminati’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Metal Blade Records/Blackened Death Metal
After a ‘final’ split in 2012, God Dethroned ‘reformed’ in 2014 with the sole intention of playing a few live shows with only Henri Sattler and Michiel van der Plicht being the core members; the rest would be made up of guest musicians and hired hands. This seemed to be the case until it was announced that this line-up would create ‘The World Ablaze’ in 2017, followed by ‘Illuminati’, a new studio album that would be released this year.
As expected, ‘Illuminati’ continues with a similar overall sound to the bands last album. However, where this album differs is that ‘Illuminati’ takes a huge step away from the World War One themes and back to a time when God Dethroned focused their efforts upon religion. This means that ‘Illuminati’ is actually hugely appealing to old school fans, not just of God Dethroned, but also the blackened death metal genre in general. There are some excellent tracks here ‘Broken Halo’, the Lucifer inspired ‘Gabriel’ and the brooding ‘Blood Moon Eclipse’, songs that would quite happily fit anywhere in their earlier catalogue with a scathing, visceral attack on religion that would appeal to fans of both ‘The Grand Grimoire’ and ‘Into the Lungs of Hell’. For those fans of blackened death metal who have never heard these God Dethroned albums, then ‘Illuminati’ is definitely for followers of Hail of Bullets, Necrophobic and Panzerchrist. Furthermore, ‘Illuminati’ is not only enjoyable, but also memorable, an excellent production allows the Dutch band to drag in fans of Rotting Christ and Behemoth, particularly when the latter was good.
‘Illuminati’ is a huge step forward for God Dethroned and a step in the right direction for the band to reclaim the legacy they so readily deserve.
Rating : 84/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
