Review Summary: Don't worry; it's not another Periphery review
In black metal, it is not a rare occurrence for a band to never make it past the demo stage before ending their career. Most of the time, this is not a tragedy, as their music wasn't too great to begin with, but in the case for some, it's a shame their potential never had the opportunity to blossom and grow. One such band is Godswill, a one man blackened doom metal band hailing from St.Petersburg, Russia. In 2008, the band released a total of three demos, with the excellent
Cold Outside standing far above the rest.
There is really only one word that can perfectly embody the music on
Cold Outside; majestic. Amongst the savage, slow churning power chords and pained howls of frontman Godswill, are atmospheric keys, that give the record a much fuller and epic nature. Never overdone, their melodies are absolutely enticing, drawing the listener in with ease. Album opener, "Frozen Heart" even features angelic choir chants, a great contrast from the hellish, guttural roars of the frontman. Although the music is strongly influenced by doom, with many of its sections progressing at the pace of snail, the bestial black metal side of the music rears its head up on a few occasions, lending it speed and the use of tremolo picked chords. The guitars remain on the simple side throughout, yet this doesn't detract from the quality of the album, raw yet melodic tone helps lead the album. The drumming is quite simple as well, but once again the skill level is exactly where it needs to be to accentuate the other instruments. Even though for the majority of the album Godswill vocals consist of death metal influence gutturals, on the song "Dead Is All Inside" the listener gets to experience his haunting cleans, a treat that is also featured heavily in closing song and title track "Cold Outside". On this track, it goes back and forth between clean, guitar picked sections featuring Godswill's excellent clean vocals, and heavily distorted sections, that with a simple lead in the background once again put the harsh vocals into the spotlight.
At the this point in time the future of Godswill in unknown; the band has yet to release an official statement regarding a break up, but they also been inactive since 2008, so it is not clear whether the band intends on continuing. After a listen to
Cold Outside however, many (including myself) will wish for the band to continue, with their second demo a testament to a potential that could put them at the top of the blackened doom metal heap.
