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Road Warrior,The Matrix, Fahrenheit 451, and 1984, all stand out as foreboding and searing visions of a post apocalyptic society. Each work paints its own thought provoking portrait of a society marred by man’s mistakes, reeling from the aftermath, while attempting to rebuild. With a musical canvas, God Forbid’s new concept driven record IV: A Constitution of Treason creates an equally poignant narrative, unlike anything else in metal right now.

The New Jersey Natives’ new offering deserves to stand proudly alongside other Jeremiads as a work of art that provides a mirror for social ills in hopes of amending them. The record guides the listener through a ravaged world, its hardships, and an inevitable repeat of the same mistakes. To bring their “Constitution” to the metal masses, the band will embark on “The Fury of The Fall Tour” with Meshuggah, The Haunted, and Mnemic. Paralleling the calculated assault of this tour, everything on this record packs one solid punch, from the amazing riffs and leads courtesy of young guitar heroes Doc and Dallas Coyle, to Corey Pierce’s powerful percussion, John Outcault’s bludgeoning bass lines, and Byron Davis’s primal, passionate vocals. At the end of the album’s onslaught, God Forbid have re-written Metal’s constitution and evolved immensely in the process.

Vocalist Byron Davis describes the natural evolution of the record from a mere title to the full blown aural journey that it has become today. Summing up the creative process, Byron states, “First we had an idea for the title of the record and the idea for one song, a tribute song to Dimebag Darrell. We wrote the music first and then the lyrics began to have these natural, recurring themes between the songs. Then after writing the last 3 or 4 songs, we realized that there was a total concept behind the album. At first we were going to make a concept album, but we weren’t going to explicitly tell anyone. However, things just came together and it made more sense to tell the story outright. It was supposed to be more subliminal, but from the way we were writing and the way things started sounding, it just came out to be a concept record.” The process differed from previous records, allowing God Forbid to completely immerse themselves in creating this record from start to finish. This complete focus led the band on their own journey.

Byron describes the process, stating, “Writing the record was definitely natural. In the past, we were all working jobs and writing at the same time, but this time we sat in the studio for 2 months and just wrote five days a week for ten hours a day. Everything definitely started to come together and it was a stressful situation at first, but we were all on the same page. Ultimately, it’s something that we wanted to try and shoot for and we accomplished it.”

Maintaining the dynamics of such a diverse and vibrant album required serious preparation and effort from each of these 5 talented individuals.Byron states, “I took some vocal lessons with Melissa Cross who made the The Zen of Screaming DVD. I could always sing, but it was just a matter of approaching it in the right way, so it wouldn’t sound cliché. Since the music changes and goes through so many valleys, it’s only right that my voice does as well. We aim to keep it interesting and as powerful and brutal as possible.” Mission accomplished on that front as the dynamics of the music and vocals all work together throughout the course of the album, telling this post apocalyptic tale.

One specific song that stands out is the aforementioned elegiac tribute to Dimebag Darrell entitled “To the Fallen Hero.” About this song and Dimebag, Byron comments, “Dime actually heard our last record Gone Forever before it came out. Doc and Dallas went to New York for the mastering session, and he happened to be there with Damage Plan. When Dime heard the metal, he came in, while they were mixing “Judge the Blood.” He was really cool, honest, and down to earth, even with the status that he had. He was a guitar hero who loved the metal scene and music. We were in Macedonia when we found out what had happened to him, and after that we came up with the idea of writing a tribute song. Then Dallas came up with the chorus, and I was thinking about the song. For all those people who didn’t get to experience meeting Dimebag, it would be kind of odd for them to relate to. So I made it more universal, dedicating it to the troops that are fighting for our country right now and anyone else that’s been involved in your life that has had a positive influence on you. In that regard, we just made it a song that everyone could understand and get into.”

This band aims to make the listener think and empathize with their music, in an attempt to open eyes. Due to the combination of melody, amazing guitar work, and passionate vocals, this record will definitely do that. Byron acknowledges, “it’s a lot darker than our previous records, and it’s definitely more thought provoking than most mainstram records coming out now. For some people, it might just be too much for them to stomach. However, we are living in a society where a lot of people want to be blind and not really see what’s going on. So this is definitely an awakening for certain people. Also it’s a concept that really doesn’t exist in the genre. We look forward to growing further as a band and now we’re just waiting to see what this record has in store for us.”

In many ways, the record explores current social ills, and in a corporate pre-packaged pop-driven culture, it’s extremely refreshing to hear Byron say, “We were trying to be thought-provoking, and we’re concerned about what’s going on in the world.” However, the delivery of these socially conscious themes remains subtle, in the form of the album’s over-arching concept. This subtle approach remains one of the record’s strongest merits.

Moreover, the band’s evolution from the incredible Gone Forever becomes extremely evident with this offering. Providing insight into the band’s mentality, Byron exclaims, “We refuse to settle, and as long as we keep that attitude, we’ll be around for a long time. A lot of bands right now are blowing up and have found their niche, but they’re afraid to step outside the box and do something a little different. As opposed to us, because we really don’t give a shit. We go against the grain and do what we want to do for the love of music, and that’s how we’ve always been. This is what we do, this is what we love to do, and we take it very seriously.” Their determination commands respect and admiration amongst a bevy of radio friendly emo-core bands and here today gone tomorrow nu metal. Their longevity lies in the fact that honesty remains the center of this constitution and through staying true to themselves, these individuals will only become stronger as a band.

Interestingly, unlike the genre during the 80’s, metal bands are primarily spring forth from the East Coast. Byron describes the current situation of America’s east coast and how it has become a breeding ground for heavy metal--outlining the scene, “We’ve just come to a point where our eastern seaboard is just ridiculously packed. There’s a lot of frustration there. People are living on top of each other in these states right now, and the population is just ridiculous. The east coast vibe is that everybody on this coast is hungry. Not that the west coast isn’t hungry, but right now people over here are starving, and we’re going to make ourselves known. There aren’t really too many east coast metal bands that we had back in the day other than Anthrax. We had a couple other bands that almost made it, but they never really got the golden ring. However, we’re just holding it down and showing people that we have great musicians out here and great music. We’re proud to be where we are from and it’s all about the music.”

Due to a focus on the music, Byron and his cohorts currently stand at the forefront of metal, helping spearhead the resurgence of the genre into popular consciousness. However, Byron gives his perspective on the whole scene “There are a lot of great bands out there like Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, and Chimaira. At this point in time, I think that each one of these bands, along with us, does their own thing, but we can still be together in that type of genre of music. However, we’re just marching to our own drum, and we’ll see how far it takes us.” Also, right now metal possesses a strength and unity unlike any other genre. Byron sees this as a total positive, “It’s all about community and we have to look out for each other, especially when there are outside influences trying to tear it down and make it seem worse than it really is.”

God Forbid plan on longevity, even with the cyclical and often volatile nature of the genre and the music industry. Byron realizes, “The genre is gonna get saturated with third, fourth, and fifth generation bands, and people are going to get tired of metal, and then it’s going to go back underground. So right now, it’s all about being one of those bands that basically rises to the top and that can exist through the trends. There are a lot of bands that are just trying to bastardize the music as far as they can take it, but even when the genre’s not popular anymore we’re still gonna be doing it!”

In this climate, metal has been catching more and more major label and pop culture attention. Kids have become interested in guitar solos and true metal again, due to its inherent power. Byron rightfully states, “I think that the power behind metal is the fact that it’s one of the last places where the music is honest and the bands are giving it their all, night after night. It’s all about playing for the people that enjoy what you’re doing. Bands are definitely blowing up, and they’re huge, but they still have that same feeling about the music that they had when they started on the first day. I think that’s the best thing you could say about this genre, because it’s not really popular yet. It’s growing in popularity, but it’s not really popular yet, so it’s still natural, untouched, and pure.” The emotion at the heart of heavy music remains intact and central to this particular band.

Hitting the road on “The Fury of the Fall Tour,” God Forbid plan on channeling the intensity of their latest opus live. Byron states, “Meshuggah and The Haunted have been two bands that influenced us early on in our careers. Being able to share the stage with them and to be right in the middle of both of their sets is pretty amazing. This tour is definitely going to be crazy because it’s Meshuggah’s only stateside tour for their new record; and they are so innovative that you really don’t know what to expect. The Haunted is amazing as well. Since they’re back with their original singer, I’m pretty excited, because he truly stands out from everyone else. It’s an honor for us share a stage with them, and you know we’re going out there and we plan on killing it every night.”

In the end, regardless of shifts in the genre trends or anything else, God Forbid remain determined and strong enough to stay their own course for a real musical revolution!