THANK GOD – With origins from Atlanta, Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina, Thank God is best described as a Punk, Experimental, Hardcore and Jam Band. With all of these descriptive genres going on, yes, Thank God does make a whole bunch of noise. Notable noise at that. One first listen through of Thanks God’s new album, Ice/Age and I realize that this band is a free styling and “who gives a crap what the rest of the world thinks” band. That’s what Experimental, combined with Punk and Hardcore is supposed to do to a band in the first place. Listening to Ice/Age tells me Thank God looks upon the words “status quo” as being toxic. With songs such as Shit and Wow to flood the senses into a bewildering blast of Hardcore Punk from Thank God, these two songs are worth slamming your body around to, at any hour… of any day… of the whole damn week. Still, Thank God can tone things down at times, with One Half being a semi-melodic introduction into where ever you may want to go, within your mind or by space travel. You can be your own damn navigator! The guitar notes and overall tempo of One Half gives off that feeling of… ready, set, now F’n go! (Which makes all the sense in the world… One Half precedes Set/Go). Set/Go elevates it’s tempo to berserk levels, with breakdowns galore. There are hints of Doom and Stoner guitar riffs that seem to sneak into Set/Go, adding another element that Thank God has thrown into this eclectic album of songs.
Hopefully, Thank God will not seek out any “polish” on the production end of the scale on their future albums. The blue-collar and garage-tinged atmosphere on Ice/Age, coupled with the youthful, “who gives a shit” attitude is just fine with me. The only instrument I would like to see Thank God not experiment with too often in the future with is the sax. I love the sax, however, Thank God incorporating this fine instrument into Ice/Age just doesn’t resonate any vibe of cool for me. Uncle Stone doesn’t likey. The sax, as played on this album, comes across as macabre to my ears, so maybe it has a vibe… o.k.? I just want Thank God to take the sax and put it away for now or put it on ebay. Then again, this is an experimental band I’ve been talkin’ about isn’t it? Regardless, the sax that was played on this album probably cried alone at night, knowing how it sounded and was treated.
Sax aside, Ice/Age is like a sign post that reads: Open minds may enter… others piss off. I like Thank God and their brand of noise. Vocally and musically, Thank God have their identity crisis in check. Thank God plays fast and delivers plenty of heavy moments to make me feel like my ears belong in their music. It’s bands like this, that push the elemental fusion of Heavy Rock genres into their own direction and walk away grinning… knowing they have freely expressed their language of music upon anyone who listens. I’m listening to Thank God and hopefully many others will too, just get off the mainstream bus that’s taking you to status quo la la land… dammit.
* Released back in July of 2010, on indie label Exotic Fever Records, Ice/Age is the debut full length from Thank God.
* THANK GOD are: Troy, Hank, Adam, Matt and Kevin – (Sorry, I don’t know which name goes with each dude in above photo of Thank God). Gee Metal whiz, I said I was sorry.
* For more info on THANK GOD, click on the link below!
GO GET ‘EM THANK GOD.
Um, don’t get the sax in trouble anymore.
Stone.
Modern Life Is War caught my attention this past Summer of ’09, as I was perusing the clearance rack at my local Hot Topic. I was stunned, to say the least, to see a quality Hardcore Punk Band like this, on a clearance rack, of all places. It is a shame Modern Life Is War disbanded back in 2008… this was one loud, rowdy, Hardcore Punk Band that created some cool albums in less than a decade, (4 albums and 1 debut EP). From looking around the internet, Modern Life Is War certainly have a ton of fans hoping for a reunion of any kind. Going back to my clearance rack experience at Hot Topic… uncovered was a limited edition 7″ colored vinyl of the single Stagger Lee and the b side The Motorcycle Boy Reigns
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.