Dutch extreme metal outfit God Dethroned return with its twelfth album, aptly titled The Judas Paradox. The album’s lyrical themes are a continuation of the band’s 2020 release, Illuminati. Paradox touches on the occult, Satanism and religious conspiracy, topics that are certainly familiar to the band. The title track opens with dissonant chords and a quick percussive build up with crunching, yet subdued riffs. The mid-tempo, wary guitar interludes, and wailing background vocals contrast with the main riff, creating a sense of uneasiness and guilt. “Rat Kingdom” starts with triumphant pounding drums and a regal guitar line before the blast beats and tremolo riffing kick in to high gear. The hellish cacophony revolve around Henri Sattler’s raspy, vocals which still sound strong since forming the band nearly 35 years ago. “The Hanged Man” is a grooving, grinding track that fluctuates between blast beats and a rolling drum beat. The track’s midsection has a soulful guitar solo that captures the urgent, yet dark tone on this track. The listener is afforded a break with the fifty second instrument, “The Black Heart.” This short, eerie interlude serves as a prologue for the relentless track, “Asmodeus.” “Asmodeus” is a fast paced track with baroque guitars and pulverizing drums that give homage to the demon king.
Paradox’s second half stumbles a bit, but there are several notable tracks. “Hubris Anorexia” is a thrashing number with an amazing guitar trade off between Sattler and Dave Meester. “Hailing Death” is an epic track at roughly five-and-a half minutes and should have closed out the album. That honor goes to “War Machine” which is notable for its speed and tempo changes. However, it would have best served as the penultimate track as “Hailing Death” complements the title track.
The Judas Paradox shows God Dethroned returning to its roots while maintaining a modern edge. The albums loses a little bit of steam in the second half, as mentioned above, as a couple of tracks are a bit of filler. “Kashmir Princess” is too soft and sounds like a half-hearted attempt at commercial airplay. Furthermore, concluding the album with “Hailing Death” would have created a greater impact due to its bleak imagery and length. These are minor issues overall though, and do not blunt the overall quality of The Judas Paradox. The musicianship is technical, but never take away from the overall songs. Song wise the band has not sounded better and Paradox has some of the best songs God Dethroned has wrote in years, such as the title track.
The Judas Paradox is another feather in the cap for God Dethroned and one of the band’s better albums. Illuminati was a minor stumble, but Paradox shows the band walking upright once more. This album is dark and introspective, yet heavy, technical and relentless. God Dethroned are back to reclaim the throne.
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