"The God That Never Was," which is the seventh album by the Swedish death metal band Dismember, is a mind numbing, ear drum punishing assault. Vocalist Matti Karki spits and barks with a raw throated voice over driving, steamrolling rhythms which are composed of walls of monstrous, propulsive riffs which sound more like a lawn mower than a guitar, and quick, skillful, walloping drumming. Aside from the occasional, unexpectedly melodic guitar solo (e.g. in "Time Heals Nothing") to break up the monotony, this disc is a friggin' amelodic, harmony-deficient, 35-minute monster! The only flaw it has is that every song plows along at about the same speed, but this disc is also about as fast and brutal as you'll find in music nowadays, so all is forgiven. The album opens with the title track, which is one of many scorchers to come. This song bristles with roaring guitars and slamming blast beats, and is topped off by a pick slide and two careening solos. Other highlights include the almost deafening fifth song ("Never Forget, Never Forgive"), "Phantoms (Of The Oath)", which is an instrumental with a churning rhythm and buzzsaw riffs, the thunderous, rapid-fire "Blood For Paradise," and the pounding, grinding tenth track ("Feel The Darkness"). So, "The God That Never Was" may be more ugly than a stripped turkey carcass, but if you like death metal and/or are sick of melody, you should think it's also as satisfying as Thanksgiving dinner.

"The God That Never Was," which is the seventh album by the Swedish death metal band Dismember, is a mind numbing, ear drum punishing assault. Vocalist Matti Karki spits and barks with a raw throated voice over driving, steamrolling rhythms which are composed of walls of monstrous, propulsive riffs which sound more like a lawn mower than a guitar, and quick, skillful, walloping drum beats. Aside from the occasional melodic guitar passage (e.g. in "Time Heals Nothing"), this disc is a friggin' amelodic, melody-deficient, 35-minute monster!. The only flaw it has is that about every song plows along at about the same speed, but this disc is also about as fast and brutal as you'll find in death metal nowadays, so all is forgiven. The album opens with the title track, which is one of many scorchers to come. This song bristles with roaring guitars and slamming blast beats, and is topped off by a pick slide and two careening guitar solos. Other highlights include the almost deafening fifth song ("Never Forget, Never Forgive"), "Phantoms (Of The Oath)", which is an instrumental with a churning rhythm and buzzsaw riffs, the thunderous, rapid-fire "Blood For Paradise," and the pounding, grinding tenth track ("Feel The Darkness"). So, "The God That Never Was" may be more ugly than a stripped turkey carcass, but if you like death metal, you should also think it's as satisfying as Thanksgiving dinner.

This was one CD I didn't see coming. Having judged the band pretty much solely based on an average CD (2004's Where Ironcrosses Grow) and their early masterpiece (Like An Ever-Flowing Stream), I settled to place Dismember in the "good but not great" category among a lot of "old timer" bands still releasing CDs and marketing them through the hype of that one special "return album." (Suffocation needs to oil their joints a bit...)

If only this had been Dismember's proverbial return (though, they never really left I guess, just for a couple years, from 2000 to 2004, which I would arguably not even term a "leave"), waves would be abound and people would be a-buzz because of this CD, which contains what is easily their best material since their 1991 debut. Riffs abound, buried in deep, bassy tone and topped off with amazingly competent melodic solo sections (harmonization!). While this may scare some Dismember fans, it has only made me more of a fan, considering the melodic sections in "Shadows Of The Mutilated," "Time Heals Nothing" and "Where No Ghost Is Holy" (the first being a ridiculous melodic thrasher with a fast and interesting gallop in the middle; the second another fast go-ahead with a great couple of verse riffs and an awesome harmonized chorus part; the third the best closing song on a death metal record perhaps ever) are among the most emotional sounding solos/melodic moments penned by this band in their entire career.

Smack in the middle of the CD (well, it's actually track 7 out of 11, but time-wise it fits the criteria) we have an amazing instrumental called "Phantoms (Of The Oath)," utilizing everything from brutal thrash riffs to early In Flames-y romantic guitar interplay (actually the solos and gallops remind me of In Flames' "Dead Eternity" and "Wayfaerer" only with a deeper, more bassy tone). This song alone kills most modern death metal, and it doesn't even have any vocals! From then on, we have a few more tracks, including "Into The Temple Of Humiliation," a huge contrast to the hoppy/happy instrumental, this time opting for doom/death pace loaded with groove and mid-paced sections for the old-schooler in us all. Oh and did I mention the early track "Autopsy," which actually seems like a fantastic tribute to the band of the same name (complete with dismal, plodding approach combined with an insane amount of gloom, and ending with spoken word in a funny, yet strangely fitting, Swedish accent)? I did now, so we can move on. "Blood For Paradise" continues with more fun 80's metal soloing and mid-pace/fast-pace tempo hopping.

But the crowning achievement, I believe, comes in the form of the aforementioned final track, "Where No Ghost Is Holy." Beginning with an unbelievably emotional and gripping slow lead, the song launches into high speed with a catchy riff pulled straight from the "book of melodic yet badass riffage," leading into a slower section later on with a great groove and a slowed-down thrash feel, continuing into an absolutely mindblowing solo section.

Thus, I conclude my review of this amazing CD. Anyone who passes up listening to this because they thought Dismember's last CD was average (since it...y'know, was) is quite frankly completely retarded. After all, I passed it up almost upon seeing the name Dismember: a name I haven't seen as synonomous with anything but "competent" since...oh, I dunno, 1993?

This is the follow up to 2004 Where Ironcrosses Grow, and it dosen't dissapoint. Not there best album but very heavy, good production, solo's are there, as are the riffs, and whait to you hear the instrumental Phamtons(Of The Oath)

Death Metal or Hate Campaign. This album is much better than Where Iron Crosses grow. Lot faster, more melody, Lyrics are dark and depressing as hell. Songs are structured better than WICG. Almost all the songs are fast and have plenty of tremelo picking. Phantoms of the Oath is an amazing Instrumental that has excellent melodies all the way through and what crazy is the best song is the very last one Where No Ghost Is Holy!!!!!! This song has their most catchy melody and riffs since Collection By Blood or Patrol 17. Its so fast and catchy. Its amazing these guys can keep coming up with these kinda riffs after all these years.Buy this NOW!! Along with the New Kataklysm