ALBUM REVIEW: Reflections – Godthrymm

Halifax’s GODTHRYMM are a band that, although they only formed back in 2017, are already making a significant impact within the UK scene. This is in no small part due to their monolithic and impressive take of epic doom metal, which sees the band blend a classic doom style with atmospheric and grandiose elements, making for some brilliant music. Since the release of their debut EP, The Grand Reclamation, GODTHRYMM have gone from strength to strength, with last year’s Dead in the Studio only adding to their swiftly increasing aura. Their debut full length, Reflections is the apex of their creative output to date, mixing in a few songs from their first two records with newer tracks, giving us one of the most impressive debuts by any doom band in the last few years.

Monsters Lurk Herein starts with a slow and soft guitar motif that quickly gives way to a dense, doom laden riff and steady drumming, making for a very morose and monolithic opener. Sonorous vocals soar over the rest of the music, complementing the dark and foreboding tone of what’s on offer, with some sublime, angelic female vocals adding an excellent counterpoint to everything. It’s an incredibly way to kick the album off, and sets the tone for the rest of the record quite well. Compared with the dirge-like, slow burning effect of its predecessor, Among The Exalted proves to be a much punchier and lead guitar driven affair, with some fantastic hooks and crushing bass parts building an impressive and instantly memorable track, without losing any of the bleak feel that defined the albums opener. The much harsher vocals that Hamish Glencross delivers only add to the intensity of the guitars and bass, resulting in one of the album’s early highlights.

The Sea As My Grave has a great, classic doom sound, with some well placed harmonies and slick, catchy melodies immediately grabbing the listeners attention. During the verses, the guitars take a noticeable backseat which really allows the vocals to come to the fore and carry the song at many points. The song does a great job of jumping between the melody driven moments and much more powerful, rhythm driven ones, making for a monstrous yet epic sound that it’s hard not to love. It’s quite a varied track with a brilliant sound, and showcases that the band can make great and eclectic tracks with ease.

We Are The Dead, the first of two songs that originally featured on the bands Dead In The Studio EP, makes use of beefy, ferocious chords and slow, emotive leads and vast, grandiose vocals to craft one of this albums stand out tracks. The clash between massive rhythms and minimalist, yet hair raising leads does a lot to cement this track as an instant classic, with Shaun Taylor-Steels‘ punishing percussive assault carving like a juggernaut through the rest of the music and adding a primal undercurrent to the proceedings. The slight experimentation with different forms of distortion also pays off, making this song stand out for all the right reasons.

The Light of You is another huge slab of doom with any expansive, epic sound, which makes use of cleaner guitar tones extremely well, making for a song that blends thunderous and intense moments with some lighter and more measured elements, a sharp contrast that works well and keeps the listener engrossed throughout. The vocals, likewise, shift between soaring cleans and much harsher, decidedly more abrasive ones, further adding to the ebb and flow feel of this songs sound and injecting plenty of emotive weight into the mix.

The Grand Reclamation, which first saw the light of day on the bands debut EP, which bore the same name, is another of the album key high points, with adventurous and powerful guitar work and a throbbing, crunchy bass line giving this an instantly cavernous sound creating an excellent backdrop to some of the most impassioned vocal deliveries on the whole album. Towards its climactic moments, this song suddenly launching into a relatively speed driven and ferocious motif, which adds an amazing, savage edge to the track and adds a sense of urgency that draws the listener back in. With a few softer guitar licks thrown into the mix that only serve to illustrate how monstrous the rest of the music sounds, it brings together the best parts of the bands sound to make one of the albums most impressive efforts.

Cursed Are The Many, the second song on the album from Dead In The Studio, is by far the album’s longest and most sprawling piece of music; making full use of its longer running time, this track sets a funereal crawl of a pace, with some solid rhythm sections being complemented by some killer lead guitar parts, with Hamish sliding from one guitar part to another with ease, making sure that this song doesn’t have a single dull moment throughout, ensuring that the song maintains the listeners full attention from the first note to the last. Chasmic Sorrows, unlike the songs that preceded it, is a fairly short sharp shock of a song, not only being the shortest song on the record, but also one of its most epic. With slick, grandiose guitars creating a harrowing, sombre feel right off the bat, it ends up being a bleakly brilliant track once the main part of the song begins, with minimal drumming, steady bass hooks and no vocals, allowing the guitars to carry the song, making for a powerful instrumental piece that closes the album on an excellent note.

You’d probably struggle to find a band that pretty have not only fleshed out their sound completely by their first album, but completely mastered it to an art form. GODTHRYMM are one of those bands. Considering the calibre of musicians performing on this record, though, it’s hardly surprising that the band have managed to perfect their sound so early on in their careers. Between Hamish‘s excellent guitar work and vocal deliveries, Bob Crolla‘s impressive bass fills and Shaun‘s versatile approach to drumming, GODTHRYMM have all the necessary ingredients to not only master their craft, but also go on to be one of the best acts in the genre. Reflections is a solid statement of intent for what’s to come, and sets a lofty bench mark for all of the band’s future material to overcome.

Rating: 9/10

Reflections is out now via Profound Lore.

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