ErrorGod – The Ballad of Torture

Share this on Facebook | Share this on Twitter

Formed in 1995 as EVIL PIGS, a debut album from ERRORGOD was long overdue. Make way for “The Ballad of Torture,” a heavy, angry and grinding Death Metal onslaught that dropped on Aug. 29.

The album starts on a high note with “Brutal Truth,” a track just under three minutes that alternates between fast, grinding passages and a groovy chorus. The song leads into “I Am,” the album’s strongest track. Featuring a memorable riff with great progression and flow, the song is heavy and easy to jam to. The riff sequencing is great with the track as each riff builds off the last while bringing something new to the song.

Things get technical with “Mirror Image.” With riffs that just progress and pile up on one another in a rising, climactic fashion, the track shows a new side of the band. The song is not very memorable, but its quality lies in its imaginative composition. After this track, the album hits a lull.

Every riff seemed to be tremolo and blast beats until the title track suddenly reached a point where there was a breakdown, one of the most divine moments on this record. Not only does it save one from another generic tremolo riff, but it also simply sounds great. The chords give contrast to the brutality while its technical layout keeps things interesting.

Over the course of nine tracks, ErrorGod show their brutal side with grinding riffs and brutal breakdowns, but it all eventually becomes dull. This dullness spans the majority of the second half of the record, with the exception of “When Rome Burns.” The music never reaches a point where there is a unique flair or a creative spark. It mostly seems like endless tremolo picking, blast beats and tasteless note progressions.

This brings the album’s structure down a lot as well. With the four songs being a few of the strongest on the record, the second half seems very lackluster. The spreading out of good tracks on an album is very important because otherwise it seems unbalanced. The second half has little to offer outside of a few good riffs, breakdowns and the entirety of track eight.

Despite the album structure being very bad and some of the songs being dull, the album is not terrible. It could have been much worse if the riffs and interesting songwriting was not here to redeem it. Nevertheless, the problems mentioned do make the record fundamentally worse. If you’re looking for some filthy riffs, you’ve come to the right place. If you want something that has been thoroughly thought out, keep looking.

Songwriting: 7
Musicianship: 7
Memorability: 7
Production: 7