Rating: 8.5

Country: Belarus

Release Date: 1998

Record Label: MetalAgen

Track list:
1. Reign of Silence
2. When Life Ends
3. Inis Afalon
4. Till Death do us Part
5. The Eerie
6. Beyond Praying (Bonus Track)

Total playing time 50:26

Band Website: God's Tower

God's Tower - The Eerie

Alexander Urakoff - guitars, keyboards
Lesley Knife - vocals
Yuri Sivtsoff - bass
Wladislav Saltsevich - drums
Dmitry Ovchinnikoff - keyboards

The fact that some bands simply are not recognized, be it due to their location of origin, poor distribution or refusal to hop on whatever bandwagon is currently in favour, is really saddening sometimes. No moreso is this the case than with God's Tower, who hail from the tiny nation of Belarus. Simply put, this band is fucking amazing, and more people need to listen to them. Forget gothic epic doom, forget the well known bands that play slow, atmospheric metal…God's Tower are all that and then some. They not only succeed in being beautifully melodic, they are not afraid to remind everyone that they are a metal band first and foremost and throw in heaps of proud, heavy and slow riffing (they did after all begin as a thrash band). The feeling this album generates is one of sadness, and yet at the same time, freedom. The tales told are of warriors fallen in battle, of pagan kings and their deeds and deaths: traditional metal subjects, certainly, but God's Tower do it so convincingly, and in so grandiose a fashion that you will want to relive the experience over and over. By now, you're probably thinking, "well, this no doubt sounds a lot like Viking era Bathory", and this is certainly an influence. If I had to make direct comparisons though, I'd say that God's Tower, as it were, carries the feelings and pride of that era of Bathory (although mayhap as great as that Bathory stuff is, this is more honest), the technicality and virtuosity of Root, and the heaviness of Trouble.

The first song is a prime example of how great, epic and huge this music is. Slow, pounding riff after riff, with Wesley Knife's (not his real name, most certainly) shouted vocals ensuring that we know just much conviction this band really has. The vocals are actually a point of contention with a few people I know. I happen to think Knife is one of the best vocalists I've heard in recent memory, but a few friends have even labeled them as "hardcore-ish". I don't see this at all, but I suppose they might turn a few listeners off. The guitarwork in this band is excellent, and there are some very well done solos here, though not as many as on the follow-up, 'The Turns'. The third track, "Inis Afalon", is a very competent folky instrumental which starts with excellent acoustic guitar before the rest of the band kicks in and lends it a metallic crunch. The epic, "Till Death Do Us Part", tells the story of a warrior who grew and flourished with his sword at his side, only to perish at the hands of traitors…very moving, and as the album's epic, this is truly one of the best "true doom" songs I've ever heard. Closing off the album proper is "The Eerie", which is a truly stunning piece of work. It starts off with a keening, sorrowful guitar melody that is followed up by a gentle clean picked passage with underlying minimalist keyboard work, and Knife's proud, clean vocals soaring over the mix, sounding a bit like what Quorthon might sound like if he could actually really carry a tune. These are the only clean vocals on the album, and they come as a bit of a surprise after the preceeding music, and it's a very welcome one. The song closes with a small string ensemble taking the place of the keyboards, playing the same melancholic progression and rising in volume until suddenly erupting into a cacophony of squeals, scrapes and wails…it's very effective at conjuring up the motif of a soul being born away on the winds of death to "the kingdom of the Eerie". You will remember this song, long after it has ended. Finally, there is the bonus track, which puts a rather different slant on the band and is more like the slightly less doomy and more "metal" 'The Turns'. It has some of the best guitarwork on the album and definitely contains Alexander Urakoff's best solo. It starts out with an emphatic shout of "Come, come, let us begin!", but is actually sung entirely in clean vocals. The melody is repetitive, yet it works, and will be stuck in your head for days.

All right, I've raved about this enough. Truly, I can't think of any reason why most fans of real metal wouldn't enjoy this, except perhaps for the vocals. I would actually recommend starting with 'The Turns', as it has more clean singing, and is also an even better album, hence this album's somewhat low rating for something I obviously appreciate so much.

August 11th, 2005