Fire from the Gods is a name I didn’t know of until I found it getting mentioned on the side of some of other news about an extremely known person doing their first production of an album. It brought some intrigue but nothing that really sat in my mind as a must check out simply because the band that person was involved in I had grown out of a good decade or so ago.
Much to my surprise however, when I was asked for my honest opinion of a track sent my way from Fire from the Gods, I had a quick listen and said I’d check it out properly when I finally get home, it certainly peaked some interest, enough to give it my full attention. Only after that was said was I told of that unmentioned party producing some of their songs, such was the small taste of what peaked my interest I was keen to really check it out after all, and disappointed I was not.
Fire from the Gods upcoming release, ‘Narrative Retold’ is their second, and despite their stock being in the metal/hardcore ballpark, they bring so much more to the table for a real diverse, yet consistent, fresh sound. Based out of Austin, Texas, they sound anything but thanks to their sound, adding to this is the accent of AJ while he sings, it takes little research to find the travel from moving he has done as a child to a single parent growing up has had an impact, and it is that life that takes the main focus through the lyrics of the album reaching a connection across multiple continents, from gentle and clean singing, to rapping before aggressive bellowing and shouting, all a great match to the ever changing landscape.
The musical approach matches the diversity of the lifestyle of their vocalist, stepping very much out of the box of hardcore, they introduce an almost electronic sound at times, while next they will gently step back for mellow moments, with a massive gear change again into something with pace, they haven’t got complacent with their writing on any track with recent single ‘The Voiceless’ being a great show of what they can pull off. Follow up track ‘The Taste’ has a sound that really bugged me to put a finger on who it reminded me of, not being a bad sound in the slightest however! Album closer ‘Excuse Me’ is an acoustic rendition of an earlier track, despite sounding so similar, it takes on a completely different style thanks to its Worldly styled vocals. As it turns out, that unnamed party doing his debut production on the release is Jonathan Davis of Korn, hardly needs an introduction, he hasn’t done a bad job at all and I look forward to seeing what he bands he will be working with on production for soon.
