If you've been too caught up in the more artsy side of metal have forgotten that metal was founded on the pretense of kicking ass, the self-proclaimed Dutch HEAVYSTONERBLUESGROOVEROCKSLUDGEMETAL band Onegodless is here to, well, kick your ass back into shape. Featuring members of the soon-to-be-defunct Exivious, Onegodless is an homage to those groovy, sludgy and bluesy metal bands that were likely the gateway for many metalheads; names like Pantera, Down, Black Sabbath and Mastodon. However, as their debut record Mourner is quick to show, they come stampeding onto the metal scene with a fresh take on the style and a general air of "we don't give a crap what you think of us, just bang your goddamn heads."
Simply put, Mourner is a hell of a lot of fun and is just bursting with attitude. Album opener "The Calm" is anything but, storming out of the gates with a riff that would make Dime proud and a swing that wouldn't be out of place in a bar fight. It sets the stage appropriately for the duration of the album. If dirty riffs, head-bobbing grooves and bluesy swagger are your forte, you're going to eat Mourner up. With both Robin Zielhorst and Yuma van Eekelen of Exivious on bass and drums, respectively, a rhythm section doesn't get much tighter – or ferocious –than this. Add in the smoking fingers of Yordi Lopez on guitar and the vicious bark of vocalist Pieter Verpaalen, and Onegodless make a delightfully dangerous quartet.
Look, Onegodless aren't really bringing anything new to the table as far as this style is concerned. However, they do what they so well that it doesn't even matter. Metalheads these days are so inundated with finding the most innovative and original bands that we often forget why we fell in love with the genre in the first place. This is why bands like Onegodless are so important. Onegodless isn't overthinking things; neither should we. Listen to Mourner, smash your head through a wall, and enjoy every second of it.
Score: 8.5/10
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