Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: God Scard
Released: 2005
This metal collective from Kranj has been around since 1994, but between assorted troubles and constant lineup changes, they never quite managed to really get going. The road to better times began in 2000, when the persistent frontman Nicky was left without a single bandmate, but he soon managed to gather a great crew around him, and with them he finally got to record a debut in 2005, after almost ten years of existence.
“Ya know, my daddy used to say every man’s got a devil. And you can’t rest ’til you find him…” is a quote from the cult film The Crow that opens the record, and if I may play with it a little, God Scard found the devil within too, and out of that was born the record …and we could have it all…
God Scard is a band that isn’t afraid to experiment with its sound, mixing influences from metal, hardcore, rock and punk, and that’s exactly the blend the band’s debut presents, with more or less success. After the Intro, the record throws us straight into the hard-hitting To Have It All, which gives a good picture of what God Scard are really about. Front and center is Nicky’s vocal, which runs from growling and screams all the way to clean singing. Nicky really proves he’s a versatile vocalist, though personally I’d like to see him focus a bit more on each individual singing “technique”, because at times the vocals come out pretty muddy. For the punchy opener To Have It All the band also shot a controversial video, which got a pretty successful run on Slovenian TV stations. Nicky and Sale shine on guitars and serve up a colorful range of guitar techniques – from excellent riffing, sawing power chords and all kinds of effects, all the way to supersonic soloing. Next up is one of the better tracks on the record, Modern Democracy. With a great intro led in by singer Analene, Ana Franjić, a lovely guitar line that comes back several times, and the outburst that follows, Modern Democracy is without a doubt one of the record’s favorites. Nicky’s angry, brutal growling leans quite a bit toward Rob Flynn (Machine Head) or Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly), but he also does well in the clean, melodic singing of the choruses. The record boasts excellent dynamics, offering raw, punchy, heavy tracks as well as calmer, slower ones, like the superb Lil Gal with its very good guitar solo. But the dynamics don’t come only from fast/slow songs, but also from the great rhythm section of Andriya on bass and Gaps on drums, and Gaps in particular stands out with seriously varied drumming, lively rhythms and transitions. Although the songs are well written and, as said, stand out with interesting dynamics, I do get the feeling they start to repeat themselves, or that they’re cut from pretty much the same cloth, and this shows most in the nearly identical intros on practically every track on the record. In the Name of… stands out a bit from this formula with its use of acoustic guitars, and so does the good ballad Soil Eye Sin to close things out, on which Nicky is joined on vocals by Tanja Antonijević. The effective and beautiful lyrics about love in death on the ballad Soil Eye Sin are sadly also the only lyrics on the record that earn a plus. Far too often there’s cursing and rants from a disappointed man who now thinks all women are “whores and bitches”. The guys will definitely have to spend a bit more time on the lyrics in the future.
The production earns a small minus too, putting the snare and bass drums front and center, which leaves too little room for the cymbals and guitars. The guitars sound excellent, but they could have been pushed up front in more places.
…and to have it all… is a release that, despite a few minuses, has enough pluses that I can without a doubt call it one of the better Slovenian metal products, and I hope we can soon look forward to the continuation of the story God Scard started with this record.
Lineup
Nicky: vocals, guitar
Sale: guitar
Andriya: bass guitar
Gaps: drums
Production
Žika Antonijević
Track list
1. Intro
2. To Have It All
3. Modern Democracy
4. April Tear
5. Lonely And a Little Bit Lost
6. Lil Gal
7. BMH
8. Jesus Christ
9. Everyday Blind
10. Morning in Silence
11. In the Name of…
12. Soil Eye Sin
13. Outro
