Release Date: 05/10/18
Label: Venn Records
Genre: Hardcore/Metal
The UK has been a goldmine for hardcore over the past few years with acts such as Employed To Serve, Loathe, and Venom Prison providing the perfect soundtrack to the shitstorm that is this island at the moment. By melding metallic riffs and hardcore stomp, these bands have created a sound that fans from all corners of heavy music can get behind. With the release of their first EP, God Complex add their own flavours to this mix and mark themselves out as a band well worth your attention in what is becoming a rather crowded and wonderful scene.
Created Sick is hardcore personified. With no track lasting longer than three minutes and an overall runtime of just over ten; it breaks into your ears, trashes the place, and then stomps back out. Leaving you sitting wondering what the hell just happened before finding yourself reaching for the play button once more. This EP has weight in every sense of the word. If you aren’t being pummeled into submission by blast beats, you are being dragged through the mire by down-tuned lurching guitars. Thematically, the band shine a very bleak and muddy light on the most depraved elements of the human condition. The record’s main motif, ‘Created sick and ordered to be well’, is taken from a Christopher Hitchens speech. This concept centres around the rejection of certain religious ideas which imply that life is simply a test to prove oneself as being worthy of some ultimate reward. ‘Breeding Filth’ takes its inspiration from the horrific chemical weapon attacks used by the Assad regime in Syria, but the overall concept of the song can sadly be applied across a far broader base. The standout line screamed during the bridge, ‘I’ve given up on the human race’ being a sentiment that most of us can probably empathise with at the moment.
What really marks out God Complex is their ability to cram so many ideas and sounds within such a short period of time without ever feeling too schizophrenic or disjointed. Lots of bands within this scene take influence from doom and sludge metal by incorporating those slower, looming riffs which make you do that funny face like you just smelt a fart, and that is utilised here on ‘Slumlord’. Just as you settle into the groove, the band launch back into their high velocity assault, creating a whiplash like effect that means you never quite know what to expect next. Little inflections of industrial flair, reminiscent of Code Orange and Vein, add another weapon to their arsenal. Yet these moments are never the focus, with the title track being the only one to linger on this aspect, featuring layers of near white-noise running underneath a riff that sounds like a steam train hurtling off the tracks.
With a sound as bleak as their lyrics and overall band aesthetic, this Merseyside mob leave you salivating for more with this debut EP. It is impossible to listen to just once. With so much going on in such a short time, it is truly a case of blink and you’ll miss it. Created Sick sees God Complex formally announcing themselves at the door of UK hardcore, and on the strength of these five songs, they are more than welcome to stay.
Rating: 8/10
Recommended Tracks: ‘Breeding Filth’ ‘Stone Hand’