Godhunter’s debut album, City of Dust, was one of the great underrated sludge records of 2014, which actually found its way onto my year-end top 10 list. In the few years since, the band helped put Tucson on the metal map by hosting Southwest Terror Fest (which has since moved to Seattle), and has put out a couple splits as some members left the band and others moved out of state. This record is Godhunter’s first non-collaborative effort—local guest appearances aside—since their last full-length, although this one’s more of an EP, with seven tracks clocking in under 22 minutes.
“A Dread of Some Strange Impending Doom” opens the album on an eerie note—’tis but a two-minute track, albeit not an instrumental, as there are some soaring, chanting vocals in the mix. It sets the pace for “Like Glass Under Black Fingernails,” an equally cheery slice of downtrodden despondency—with (mostly) clean vocals, mind you. In fact, I think it might even be a duet. This one is certainly more Neurosis than Crowbar, heavy on the atmospherics, light on the riffage.
“Cocaine Witches & Lysergic Dreams” is essentially industrial in its approach with its digital beats and vocal effects reminding me of Neurosis side project Corrections House. “Walking with a Ghost” takes things even further—this one’s a two-and-a-half-minute techno-pop song that’s about as heavy as a Metric record. Man, this stuff is miles removed from the straight-ahead sludge of City of Dust! If this is the direction in which they’re now heading, then our paths no longer converge, to put it mildly. A major disappointment.
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