Lots of things changed between the end of God Forbid’s tour for 2005’s IV: Constitution of Treason and the beginning of 2009, and not all for the better.
For the first time in years, the band members found that their tour receipts, merch sales and songwriting royalties weren’t enough to pay the bills, and they were forced to search the “Help Wanted” section for day jobs. Guitarist and songwriter Doc Coyle suffered an ugly breakup with his girlfriend, who discovered he was cheating on her on the road. And when Doc and his brother Dallas (guitar) sat down to write new songs, they found they had different ideas about where the band should go and wound up bumping horns like rams to come up with a unified vision.
Fortunately, the result of their efforts, Earthsblood (out February 24), reveals a band that has harnessed its strengths and written music to please itself instead of some marketing demographic. Simultaneously heavy and melodic, filled with barreling, uncompromising rhythms, tuneful vocals and undeniable hooks, the disc is cathartic and clever, capitalizing on the promise God Forbid have been making since 2001 — to deliver songs that are memorable, dynamic and bruising.
Just days after God Forbid premiered the single “War of Attrition” on their MySpace and Web site, we hooked up with Doc Coyle to talk about the creation of Earthsblood, the metal public’s prejudice against melodic vocals, the difficulty of staying faithful on the road and how being forced to work day jobs might have inspired God Forbid to write such a killer record.
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hbbGodForbidPodcast109.mp3 - God Forbid
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