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GxSxD: God send death

05/03/12 || BamaHammer

From what I’ve recently discovered, the apparent extent of the impact that Slayer and Vader had on Japanese metal scene over the past two decades or so is astounding. That’s not to say that today’s Japanese bands are clones of either of those two bands, but it is absolutely undeniable that certain elements of their styles infiltrated the scene and became routine fixtures in the sounds of countless Japanese death metal bands over time. Vader’s “Live in Japan” album even serves as a testimonial chronicle of the band’s huge popularity in the country just before the turn of the century.

Fast forward to now, and you can definitely see the results of Japan’s adoration for these guys. GxSxD (which stands for God Send Death) is one of those modern Japanese bands with strong traces of these influences. If I didn’t know better, I could actually be convinced that the intro to the second track on this album, “Way to the truth,” was an intro to a Slayer song. Granted GxSxD is by no means a thrash band, but they were undoubtedly listening to the right things as they were learning their trade and refining their sound.

Despite the unorthodox moniker, GxSxD plays some seriously groovy death metal with just the right amount of speed and aggression, and they boast a pretty tasty production to boot. You won’t be getting a bludgeoning of blastbeat brutality in any way, but you will get a healthy dose of groove, hooks, and just generally well-formulated traditional death metal with the band’s own unique spin added.

The album sounds like it was produced and recorded in the mid-to-late 1990s, and to me, that’s a good thing. The guitar tone is a slicing, ripping, and shredding mass of tasty distortion that accentuates every palm-mute, chord, and note. Even the clean sound used for intros sounds downright thrash nostalgic. At times the sound of this album even reminds me of Cannibal Corpse’s “The bleeding” sans the killer bass sound. Vocally, Yohsuke Oka even resembles “The bleeding” era Chris Barnes at times, and the guitars have that good bite. Even the sparingly used clean vocals and almost spoken chants do nothing but supplement the music in a good way, providing a uneasy, disturbing atmospheric quality to the album. They also sound pretty unique for this style and add an additional element of groove and overall catchiness whenever they make an appearance.

Overall, GxSxD is a promising band that really needs another release. They have a couple of splits and demos to their name, but “God send death” is their only full-length release. The album is filled with memorable songs that you’ll find yourself playing and replaying time and time again. Tracks like “Way to the truth” and “Good blood son” are as catchy as it gets in this particular brand of death metal, but GxSxD honestly just needs a bigger body of work to enjoy.

In short, this is a terrific album, and it’s more than worthy of a look if you like your death metal on the groovy side. I can envision these guys becoming one of Japanese death metal’s heavy-hitters in the near future.

8,5

Information
Released: 2006
Label: Till Your Death
Website: http://www.tosp.co.jp/i.asp?i=gxsxd
Band
Yohsuke Oka: vocals, guitars, bass
Kosuke Furukawa: bass
Yusuke Oka: guitar
Ikunaga Mimura: drums

Tracklist
01. Die in Vain
02. Way to the Truth
03. Voice
04. Gate Saved Death
05. Good Blood Son
06. Beast
07. Cycle of Mind
08. First Cry
09. Power
10. Desire of Red Vision

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