review by: Roberto Martinelli

Although it is by no means a bad album, the latest record by this front-running band in the Dutch death metal scene is a disappointment. God Dethroned seemed to have been getting better and better since the release of Bloody Blasphemy (two albums ago). The band was starting to move away from the sloppy, raw sound of their first albums and really started to get a hold of how to incorporate melody and contrasts into their music. The production and musicianship also were improving.

With Ravenous (review in issue #8), the band had really made something great. The mix and compositions were coming together superbly, and we could all hope for more of the same in the future. So where does Into the Lungs of Hell go wrong? Well, the main culprit is the production. This time around, it seems as if some effort to make the music more clear and technical was made. (Mind you, the sound on the previous records was beyond reproach in terms of this.) However, there has been quite a bit sacrificed in the way of fullness, aggression and heaviness in favor of sterile sounding drums and flatter guitars.

Secondly, there has been an important stylistic change as God Dethroned seem to have all but abandoned the softer, prettier parts that would surface mainly during guitar solos and the odd interlude-like parts, like a piano bit. While the cool guitar harmonies are still there, the contrasts that made the last two records so good have been junked for stuff that's more "brutal." The only problem is that it's more boring, especially when applied to the less-than crushing production. It's also curious why the band chose to open the album with the slowest and most mundane song on the disk.

Vocally, this may be God Dethroned's best performance in terms of marrying clarity and aggression. You can practically hear everything that is being said. However, herein lies another problem, for God Dethroned has never been super at writing lyrics, whose clarity of conveyance has hurt the band as well - but to a lesser extent - on previous records. However, in terms of poor lyrics, God Dethroned seems to have degraded from goofy to inane and tired, like on the song "Soul Sweeper": "God is dead, your god is dead/ God is dead…I am the devil!/ Soul reaper…soul sweeper!" It's a bit of a pity, really, as God Dethroned was good enough to explain the ideas of each of their songs in the booklet, but aren't able to convert these good ideas into good lyrics.

So, you get the idea. This is the biggest disappointment since Iniquity's Grime, which, like God Dethroned, sacrificed the tasty for the brutal and came up short (albeit in different ways.) Note that this record normally comes as a 2CD set, with the second, 10-track CD featuring live cuts, re-recorded old songs and video clips. However, since the promo only features the first CD, I cannot comment on the bonus disk, although one can only imagine it would sweeten the package. (5.6/10)