From this point forward, Exodus's material stretches far longer than it should, and the riffs often drag despite the "progressive" nature of the material. This album isn't fully plagued by that statement, but it often creeps into the songwriting which takes away some of the enjoyment from songs such as the riff monsters "Funeral Hymm" and "Iconclasm" which are great songs with spot-on riffs and vocals but could be trimmed. "Children of a Worthless God" is a failed attempt at a prog. metal, resulting in an overlong, repetitive song with stale riffs, and while "Bedlam 123" is pretty solid, faster paced thrash, it takes a long time to build up. With these problems in mind, the album is well produced with the drums sounding fuller on this release, and the likes of "Riot Act" and "As It Was As It Soon Shall Be" sound like better versions of previous output. Rob Duke's vocals are his best with the group to date, and his roars and screams are surprisingly convincing. The title track, despite being the longest track they ever made, is the album's crowning achievement, managing to sound apocalyptic while full of tempo changes and sharp riffs. Had this been trimmed down and had more creative input been put into the duller moments of the album, we'd be looking at a very solid 4 star record.
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