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