By Gruesome Greg
Here we have officially the full-length debut from Toronto noise-rock space-oddity Godstopper, although a couple tunes on offer have appeared on previous EPs. These guys have opened for acts ranging from Tombs to Sons of OTIS, but that doesn’t really give you much of an idea what to expect…
“Don’t Walk Home” opens the album, all slithering riffs, pounding drums and industrial-style vocals till they slow things down with some grinding, mechanical breaks. “Bent” alternates between softer passages and rough-hewn riffage, culminating in a rather threatening chorus that gives off a bit of a sneering punk/hardcore vibe. “Right Up to Heaven” is cleaner, more melodic than its predecessors in parts, but still packs a punch.
“Blame Them” is coarser and more aggressive than we’ve heard to this point, a touch of Black Flag and buzzsaw black metal—until it comes to a dead stop, giving way to drone. That’s right, I said drone; long, lone ringing notes that build up into some snail’s-pace sludge—then back to the aggressive rifforama, albeit briefly. From 60 to (almost) 0 in 60 seconds, before picking up the pace again. Whoa.
Bottom line, you will not find another band in Toronto that sounds anything like this.
