BRIDE: Here is Your God
Dale Thompson is on fire – belting it out like he is 20 years younger than his grey beard indicates.
Bride has been a stalwart band in Christian Metal/Hard Rock going on four decades. Since 1986, they have released 16 studio albums and several compilations and live recordings. Hard to define, Bride has played everything from thrash to power metal to hard rock to grunge to rap to… well, you get the idea. They are intensely creative and willing to push musical boundaries.
The bands lineup has changed through the years; however, the core of the band has always been the Thompson brothers, Dale and Troy. This new release finds the brothers Thompson teaming with a couple of amazing players from Brazil to create a diverse and compelling album.
Dale Thompson (vocals) is on fire – belting it out like he is 20 years younger than his grey beard indicates. He is bouncing from a rough, Anselmo style delivery to his patented clean wail. Dale is also multi-tracking his vocal lines on many songs. The fourth track, The Unhallowed, has him singing at least four different parts. This multi-tracking of the vocals is highly effective and really adds to the overall heaviness of the album.
Troy Thompson (guitars) has never sounded better. Troy has always been a fantastic Nugent style groove-oriented guitarist. He has quite successfully transitioned to shredder on this disc. The groove is intact, but some of these solos are shredtastic! Troy also displays his multi-instrumental acumen by adding Cello, Piano, and Sitar into the mix.
Nenel Lucena, (bass) hammers down the bottom end with an authoritative and groovy thump and also jumps in on a few guitar parts. Nenel also engineered, mixed, and mastered this release.
Rafael Tavares (drums) is quite the revelation on drums. Bride always has had good drummers on their recordings, but nothing like Rafael. He brings a metal flare with some serious tasteful fills and the ever-present jackhammer kick drum.
Production duties were handled by Matthew B. Hunt. He has Bride sounding better than they have since Scarecrow Messiah. The mix is excellent with every instrumental and vocal track spaced and layered evenly.
Songwriting, though, is the hill an album will live or die on. This reviewer is pleased to report that there is no filler on this record. It is consistently professionally written, creative, and diverse. There are mid-tempo tracks (In My Own Time, Send Your Angels), crunchy barn-burners (Demon Speed, The Unhallowed, Like I Never Was), and a ton of classic Bride metal goodness.
Here Is Your God is a definitive return to form for the band. All the ingredients are here for a classic Bride release. They haven’t sounded this fresh, this original, or this heavy since 2006’s Skin for Skin.
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