
Desert of doom
-- Godsleep --
22/04/2019
Stijn Daneels

Album genres:
■ | Stoner metal |
Album artists:
■ | Amie Makris | Vocals |
■ | John Tsoumas | Guitar |
■ | Fedonas Ktenas | Bass |
■ | Dennis Panagiotidis | Drums |
Review written by Glenn “Terra Shredder” Van Bockstaele.
Godsleep is a Greek stoner metal band formed in 2010 and “Coming Of Age”
succeeds their well-acclaimed debut release “Thousand Sons Of Sleep” from 2015.
The “Coming Of Age” album is released through The Lab Records (Greece) and
Threechords Records (Bulgaria) and we got hold of it through German promoter
All Noir Music Agency.
The album begins with “Ex-Nowhere Man,” a slow stoner song that quickly
shows off the band’s main traits: stoner beats mixed with the dreary heaviness
of doom metal and with Godsleep’s brand new vocalist Amie howling her way
through the material. In particular during this opening track her voice has a
classic Black Sabbath quality to it. Next up is “Unlearn,” a faster and more
upbeat track, great stuff to dance to, but the song does wrap up with some nice
doom n’ gloom.
Track 3 is “N.O.U.” a smoothly paced and typically stoner rocker with
some catchy melodies but without a doom section unlike the earlier tracks. The
next song, “Celestial,” on the other hand sees Godsleep return to their usual
modus operandi of mixing melodic stoner rock diversified with some grim metal
riffs although this track, like its predecessor, doesn’t play the doom card all
that much. Next up is “Puku Dom” a brief and peaceful instrumental interlude
and then “Basic (The Fundamentals Of Craving)” kicks in. A slow burner, with Amie’s
melancholic vocals on full display surrounded by dark stoner riffs and the
obvious touch of doom metal. In fact, the entire song reminds me of classic
Danzig.
The album’s penultimate song, “Karma Is A Kid,” starts off as another
gentle song just like “Puku Dom” but after a short and sexually fueled vocal
introduction, the track turns into a powerful instrumental with thunderous
guitar work and pounding drum beats that go well over 5 minutes. And finally
there’s “Ded Space,” the longest tune on the album and a whole summary of
everything Godsleep had been putting on the table throughout this entire release
and topped off by mesmerizing vocals. In particular the part wherein Amie yells
SILENCE among the news channel chatter in the background sounds full of
despair. And the band keeps on building up intensity and fury till the song’s very
end.
Overall, Godsleep’s second release is an excellent stoner album. It greatly
balances upbeat melodies with darkness and heaviness. Add to that the
occasional doom metal inspired stuff and Amie’s versatile, show stealing vocals
and you’ll be easily plowing your way through this album’s lengthy songs. Well
recommended! Here’s the track “Basic (The Fundamentals Of Craving).”
85/100