ALBUM REVIEW: Inescapable – Godsticks

GODSTICKS are no strangers to caressing our emotions with a cathartic touch. With their latest offering Inescapable on it’s way, few will doubt their ability to pour energy and soul into another full length, and they’ve certainly given it the beans to ensure it hits hard and true. While they have been honing their craft with Kscope for a while now, this latest iteration redefines what the band stand for and ups the ante both in terms of melody and vocal performance. All this is in the name of allowing emotion to become the focal point, and making Inescapable an album to remember.

By its very definition, prog rock challenges trends and is largely used as a channel for ingenuity and driving music forwards. GODSTICKS take this definition quite literally and stir a delectable cocktail of prog, heavy rock and alt metal that appeals to the palette and feels fresh despite a tendency to lean towards a classic hard rock sound. Amidst comparisons to the likes of ALTER BRIDGE, the album feels born in the roaring 2020’s and goes some way towards nominating GODSTICKS as a major player in the UK rock scene.

Opting for both quality and quantity, the album sits at around the 50 minute mark and is more than capable of holding our interest for its duration. Denigrate kicks things off, immediately leaping out of the traps with an enticing riff. Things quickly slow, before a hook laden chorus rips through the song. This cat-and-mouse approach continues through the track, as the band effortlessly switch between bruising hard rock and more thought provoking prog. A swirling solo completes a full house, before Victim takes the reigns with purifying finesse.

Traditionally, vocalist/guitarist Darran Charles has always shared his personal thoughts and experiences in an ambiguous manner, but this time the execution feels much more literal. “I’m the victim,” he cries, in a perfect example of how he chose to self-reflect and examine his personal demons, and while listening to the album, atonement very much feels like the mot-du-jour. Call it escapism or simply an honest approach to songwriting, tracks like Surrender and Numb tackle delicate subject matter and more than provoke a thought or two.

The balance that we heard in earlier excerpts becomes a trend through the whole album, retaining a calm/brash approach throughout. Change is the longest track at nearly ten minutes, featuring meandering prog and generously applied innovation. Songs of this length have to be prolific, and this particular offering sits lodged as a chef d’oeuvre just waiting to be unravelled. This soaring elegance continues into Breathe and Time, concluding the album in emphatic style.

GODSTICKS promised to deliver an album that would allow emotion to sit in the spotlight, and in creating Inescapable they did just that. The natural flow of the record allows the lyrical themes to run through the record innately. As much as it is a demonstration of genuine musical talent, it feels like an insight into Darran Charles’ mind, and for that reason alone it is a success story. 

Rating: 8/10

Inescapable is out now via Kscope.

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