Review Summary: Are you ready for war?
There's nothing like a metal album that tells you a story. It's one thing to listen to music just to hear something in your eardrums. It's another to be taken on a magical journey THROUGH said music. To be transported to another time that you'd otherwise never experience. Gudsforladt, a one man black metal band from Los Angeles, does just that with his newest album
Friendship, Love and War.
To be quite honest, this album is just as much inspired by 70s and 80s heavy metal as it is black metal. 90% of the riffs found here wouldn't sound out of place on an early Judas Priest or Iron Maiden album. You have your occasional black metal tremz but overall the riffs here are very NWBHM influenced.
Friendship, Love and War is a battlecry to the men who helped shape heavy metal into what it is today. The folk influence is also huge here in the couple of interludes. They're like the calm before riding off into war. You hear the horns sound and you know its time for battle.
Clearly there's an overall epicness that bleeds through this album. It's an emotional rollercoaster that puts you right in the middle of a bloody, barbaric battleground...but also a sadness that comes from loss and eventually a triumphant feeling of victory. Gudsforladt takes you through all of those things. Put this album on and transport yourself to another time and place.
