God Forbid - Official Website


Gone Forever

United States Country of Origin: United States

Gone Forever
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Type: Full-Length
Release Date: 2004
Genre: Hardcore, Heavy, Melodic, Metalcore, Thrash
1. Force-Fed
2. Anti-Hero
3. Better Days
4. Precious Lie
5. Washed Out World
6. Living Nightmare
7. Soul Engraved
8. Gone Forever
9. Judge The Blood

Review by Adam on June 11, 2004.

Fans have been waiting impatiently for the follow-up to God Forbid’s breakthrough album Determination. Now with the release of Gone Forever, the band looks to become one of extreme music’s biggest stars. The most important question this album brings forth is will they succeed?

God Forbid has created an extremely varied metal album with Gone Forever. The production and overall sound of the group has improved greatly since Determination. Musically, however, the band has not changed too much. The main thing that separates this album from their previous works is the vocals. The band have followed in the footsteps of many of today’s metal acts and added the catchy clean sung chorus dynamic to their sound, and for the most part, they pull it off well.

Unfortunately, God Forbid is still missing that certain something that could truly set them apart from the other titans of the metalcore scene. Many of the songs start out well but tend to lose me before they are finished. For me, this is epitomized by the opening track “Force-fed” which begins with some lovely thrash and a harmony laden solo before completely turning to breakdowns for the remainder of the song. Thankfully, the band has wisely kept their soloing skills in tact and on this album there is no shortage of good solos to complain about.

Ultimately, what will decide whether or not you will enjoy this album is your tolerance for breakdowns in metal. Considering that there are a rather substantial amount of them on Gone Forever means that this tolerance level will have to be pretty high. If you are a fan of the metalcore style, then meet one of your new favorite bands. As far as becoming big in the metal scene overall, God Forbid still has a little way to go.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 7
Originality: 6
Overall: 6

Rating: 6.6 out of 10

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