God Cries

What was Theo Loomans thinking when making this album? It's a mess! It's got bad writing (lyrics and song wise), fooking annoying and obnoxious vocals and it's also missing the most important ingredient; crushing death/doom, the brutal way, the ASPHYX way!

I cannot understate just how lifeless this album feels without the presence of veteran vocalist Martin van Drunen and axeman Eric Daniels. It doesn't feel like an Asphyx album, despite the iconic white wispy font on the cover telling you otherwise. Original skin basher Bob Bagchus DOES play on this album but his drumming just does not stand out as much as it did in the olden days (1990-1992) Perhaps God Cries is the way it is because of the presence of returning frontman Theo Loomans pulling guitar and bass duty and also having complete songwriting control. Bob has stated in many interviews well after the release of God Cries and Theo's passing (R.I.P.) that "I felt like was just playing in Theo's solo band." Fractured times in the Asphyx camp at the time indeed.

What shall I talk about first? How about the songwriting I mentioned in the opening. Well, this album in no way shape or form features ANYTHING resembling The Rack, Last One on Earth or even the self-titled 1994 release. On God Cries, Theo must have decided to write very repetitive and loopy tunes instead of focusing on the core of Asphyx music BECAUSE he was dealing with many personal issues such as the death of his father in 1995, so I can understand the content of the lyrics being very angry at people and at religion but the music doesn't match the feeling these songs give off. Why even call this band Asphyx then? Theo should have gone and taken his ideas to his own solo band or something; or how about don't use those ideas at all because having all of that crap on this album means it suffers greatly with having to bear the burden of such a poor excuse for death metal, let alone HEAVY METAL. Naturally, God Cries is seen as the worst or the nadir for this very reason.

An interesting thing to note is that when asked in retrospect about this album, drummer Bob Bagchus has stated that the material which makes up the God Cries album was originally written for a project Bob and Theo Loomans had together called Throne, which apparently was music somewhat similar to what Soulburn would do in 1997-98. Black/death metal would have worked wonders for this album.

Another thing I have to mention on this album and what I found odd are Theo Loomans vocals, which have definitely deteriorated since he left in 1990. Funnily enough, Century Media were kind enough to release Theo's other full contribution to the band in the form of the album Embrace the Death, originally recorded in 1990. Listening to that album and then this one right after is a very good point of reference, because you are best able to hear the ways in which Theo Loomans and to a certain extent Asphyx changed leading up to this monstrosity. He seems to be stuck doing a mild Martin van D impression the whole time only when he tries to break out on a song like Slaughtered in Sodom where he chooses to shout just a little bit higher pitched so his voice cracks constantly. I don't think it's meant to be this way, but it's slightly amusing actually. He at no point pulls off any wicked screams or anything like that, just a monotone SHOUT the entire length of the album, not even growling!. But he never really did anything special on Embrace the Death either. He truly was a very inferior vocalist to Martin van Drunen and the excellently evil Wannes Gubbels indeed. But still better than Ron van Pol though.

Let me talk about some of the songs making up this schlocky shocker. The title track is a long one at almost four minutes long and yet nothing to show for it. Honestly, no cool lead breaks or riffs. You cannot call what Theo is playing here anything worth what Eric Daniels did. There is however a little break for a more mid-paced groovy bit at 1:33 but it is swiftly ruined by Theo's voice. The guitar tone on this album is aggressive, I suppose. Fairly meaty with much low end. A bit too much treble though, which causes a lot of the higher pitched bits throughout this song to grate on the ears a bit. My Beloved Enemy is TERRIBLE, truly the worst song put out under the Asphyx name. This genuinely sounds like really bad grunge at some points with a slapdash solo tacked onto the end of it. I NEVER listen to this song whenever it pops up on a playlist or whatever. Utter shit straight from the filthy gutter.

Frozen Soul has a nice Pantera riff to start itself off with. Then it starts with the silly overly loud dubbed guitars and Theo losing it on the microphone and just NO. Since this mess was released as an Asphyx album I am going to criticise it like one, just as I have been doing. So this kind of music and musical feel are totally unacceptable for a DEATH METAL band like Asphyx. Proper embarrassment.

I really don't want to keep talking about this album anymore so let me wrap up by saying that God Cries is 100% the nadir for Asphyx. Their lowest point ever. Yet all this is the way it is because of Theo Loomans who was having some serious issues dealing with things around him at the time. Those feelings and those thoughts are absolutely all over these songs. But the effort clearly wasn't put in to make this album and these songs stand the test of time because they now sound VERY outdated 23 years later and they are a TRUE product of their time.

Thank goodness for Soulburn and the eventual reunion and release of proper Asphyx with On the Wings of Inferno. Death the brutal way finally!

Upon first listening to God Cries, one wonders why this was ever released as an Asphyx album. Little there is upon which the laurels of Asphyx rest: no mournful leads, few doom-drenched riffs, and no toxic atmosphere of impending annihilation. Instead we are treated to a very durable hybrid of decidedly non-Asphyx influences: blatant tough-guy grooves (with requisite tough guy emoting lyrics) and punk-ish thrash that is a lot less crusty than Asphyx's usual punk influence. Imagine Prong with harsher, more death-inflected vocals, basically. One questions why this record wasn't flip-flopped with Soulburn, as that album sounds distinctly like vintage Asphyx while this one comes off more like an adventurous side-project. Regardless, this is the nadir of Asphyx's output, though there is merit to be found once one gets over the surprise of how different it is from the rest of the band's usual output.

It took a long time for me to get over my initial dislike of this record and listen to it with more objective ears. The first thing that comes clear is that the late Theo Loomans (R.I.P.) clearly had a lot of personal shit he needed to work out with this record. The lyrics here are far more introspective, angry, and emotive than the usual Asphyx fare, and he delivers it with a bark and snarl more typical of crustcore. This type of tough guy navel gazing usually makes me wince, but Loomans proves an adept lyricist, avoiding more typical cliches and his ultra-harsh vocal delivery covers up some of the more cringe-worthy moments.

The second thing that comes clear is that this is Bob Bagchus' most diverse and note-worthy performance on drums. Perhaps it was the challenge of Looman's less Asphyx-ian riff construction, which seems to have forced Bob out of the box of his usual stylings. Where speed is called for, he just blazes and on the groovier passages, he fires on all cylinders, getting deep in the pocket. I wish he'd brought some of this liberal-mindedness to some of Asphyx's later recordings.

Major sticking points for most people are the highly melodic, post-punkish "My Beloved Enemy", which sounds a lot like Killing Joke (and since I like them, I like the Asphyx-ian take on it), and the utterly putrid nu-metal-ish "Frozen Soul". As for the rest, they are fine and fun, particularly the thrashier material like "Slaughtered In Sodom" and "Died Yesterday". Hell, if Prong had released something this vicious in the '90s, I would've never stopped listening to them.

On a final note, however, the production is quite shiny and polished, removing any chance of a more deathly atmosphere and keeps the album sounding sleek and insensible in terms of slapping the Asphyx name on it. Had they gone with a grittier overall texture, this album might've been more fondly received. As it stands, you'll need an open mind to cultivate anything more than a strong distaste for it.

Asphyx are true death metal legends from the abyss of The Netherlands. Their slithering, doomy aural hell had pleased the most lunatic brains among metal music freaks since 1987. The band broke up in 1995, but re-emerged next year with a new line-up featuring ex-vocalist Theo Loomans (played also all bass and guitars on this one) and forming member, drummer Bob Bagchus.

This was when I became familiar with Asphyx. For those who knew the band already, with 'God Cries', something a bit different was presented, due to the changes in the line-up. The band were faster, thanks to the thrash metal facet they had found during the break. Still today, this album is an individual take of thrash-mixed-up-death metal with some HC/rock attitude (dissonant and open-string guitar playing). Within these songs, the band shoot with both the straight and less straight riffing and the drum fire. The keywords are catchy and in-your-face. At times reminding me of Sodom, at times of old Pestilence, 'God Cries' stands on its own four feet, asserting itself with the ripping bursts of frenzy. On 'My Beloved Enemy' the band enter surprisingly melodic and emotional grounds, but still do it with style. No, this is no emo-core (as mentioned in some review on the internet), this is reality. 'Died Yesterday' and 'Frozen Soul' have some late Carcass and Blackstar style heavy rocking in it. Even though being different to usual Asphyx, the similarities are still many.

Another component that's keeping up the frenzy are the performances. Mr. Loomans's vocals are throat-lacerating mixture of shouting and growling, not a million lightyears away from the voice of "true" Asphyx vocalist Martin Van Drunen (ex-Pestilence, ex-Comecon). He spits hateful messages against Christianity and its God, backstabbing "friends", about insanities of wars, and about death and dead feelings. You can hear his anguish and hate, and apparently he took his life soon after this album was out. The guitar sound is ear-rendering, and there is a lot of live touches left intact in the mixing. The drums are pounding, but cardboard box sounding tom drums are out of place on this record. The bass guitar is there doing its job, but is far less audible as on Sodom releases, for example. There's a lot of room in the production, and it would have been bloody brutal, if it was squeezed a bit more.

This works as a demonstration how one can say "fuck off" without saying it. Fuck, there's the word "fucking" said once. Anyways, if you want to try some rabid death/thrash metal, you could do much worse than to headbang yourself insane to 'God Cries'. This isn't a typical Asphyx album, but still deserves to be heard!

(Originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com in 2007)

God Cries is often considered the career nadir for Asphyx. That's not an opinion I disagree with, but if I have to give it credit for something, it's the first of their albums that actually threw me for a loop, surprised me, and attempted something different. Granted, I struggle to remember songs off almost any of the Dutchmen's full-length works, and even now in the midst of reviewing their catalog I find a lot of their material slipping away. This is no exception, but at least I recall the first time listening how it threw me a curve ball, not unusual in the middle of the 90s when a lot of bands were experimenting with their sound or changing up styles completely. This is still identifiably Asphyx in nature, but it incorporates a lot more overt rock grooves and even a bit of a peppy punk influence in some of the faster paced chord progressions, like perhaps they had been listening to a lot of hardcore, groove and alt metal and wanted to branch out a bit of the morbidity into something more accessible...like Pungent Stench meets Corrosion of Conformity meets Helmet and then dowsed in 90s thrash and the viscera of Last One on Earth.

Might have had to do with the returning vocalist Theo Loomans, pulling triple duty with the guitar and bass; perhaps responsible for wanting a slight change in direction. Bob Bagchus spearheads this particular reunion (which didn't last long), and he admittedly is the strongest component here, with a powerful sound to his kit that translates into the kicks, toms, and a potent snare snap. The guitar tone is classic 1992 Asphyx and there are a number of propulsive old school rhythmic progressions ("God Cries", "Died Yesterday") which should ensure that the original Asphyx fanbase isn't completely alienated, but then you've got tunes like "My Beloved Enemy" which have these very basic, punk/hardcore configurations that wouldn't have been out of place on a lot of the 90s alt/grunge metal recordings. Not particularly inspired in terms of note construction, but the very fact that Asphyx continuously tossed these crests of gleaming chords over the grooves was a bit of a blindside, and even if the end result is probably their least impressive offering, it's not exactly the most disgraceful transformation of the decade...it's no Diabolus in Musica, Load or Risk, nor does it go the same distance as Morgoth's Feel Sorry for the Fanatic where they basically turned into later Killing Joke or Prong. It's almost like Asphyx took a few cues from label mates Only Living Witness who started off as a local Massachusetts thrash/hardcore band and then 'evolved' into emotional, wall-of-chord heavy rock.

I'm sure there was a contingent of the audience shocked by stuff like the aforementioned or "Frozen Soul", but Loomans and Bagchus make sure to leave in some death/thrashing, impulsive motifs redolent of Martin van Drunen's original tenure with the band. The production is fairly raw and atmospheric, not as dark and doomy as its eponymous predecessor, but it matches the brighter chords and the 'death & roll' pacing you get from a song like "The Blood I Spilled" which would have been a decent match for Desultory or Entombed during this same era, or Grave's Soulless/Hating Life period. Rhythm guitar tone is a meatier spin on Last One on Earth, but a lot more open chord patterns and less churning, grinding filth. Leads are bluesy and sporadic, bass is just sort of traipsing along with the guitar and not thinking for itself. As enthusiastic as the record was written in comparison to its gloomier forebears, most of these tunes are fleeting in nature, the sort you'd listen through once and have no real intention of revisiting. I'm not going to condemn Asphyx for its mutation like many others have, but ultimately it didn't produce anything of note, so it's no surprise this was quickly consigned to the bargain bins. Not exactly 'shit', but neither is it good. Heavy volume-wise, but not heavy in depth or repercussions upon the listener. If placed against Eric Daniels' lukewarm version of the band a couple years earlier, it falters, but I think this and that s/t are clearly the band's 'fucking around in the 90s' period and both could be safely avoided...all the other discs remain more relevant, especially in today's trending throwback death metal craze.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

"God Cries"... the fifth Asphyx LP and one, which I think brings much more controversy than all the previous recordings putted together. Why is that?

This album brings such changes in the line up, that it's unbelievable. Imagine that none of the guys who did the previous album, "Asphyx", recorded "God Cries"! The most noticeable departure was Eric Daniel's of course, who couldn't participate in recording of this LP due to some personal problems. It's a shame, truly, as he had such a unique style of playing guitar and his melodic leads are one of the kind... But from the other hand "God Cries" welcomes Theo Loomans back in the band. And man, his vocals are so vicious and morbid that it feels like a much welcome return. I really like his voice on this album a lot and think he's 666% better than this guy, Ron, who did "Asphyx" LP, although sometimes I have a feeling he tries to sound like Martin van Drunen too much. But I also really like his lyrics on the LP. They're very personal ("It Awaits" and "Cut-throat Urges" especially), many of which are also deeply antireligious.

The album surprises with its amount of brutality and fast / mid paced playing. Probably due to the lack of Daniels' personal style and his doomy riffs or leads, the album has completely different character and is almost totally deprived of the classic Asphyx slow parts. If its good or bad, it all depends on you. I've been hearing quite a lot of complains on "God Cries" and opinions that it's the weakest album in the entire band's discography. Well, I must say I agree to that, but I don't think the album is that bad at all. Sure, it's not as great as some of the earlier or future recordings, but I like it anyway as it is. With Theo on vocals, the album is fuckin aggressive as hell and there are some damn brilliant tracks also, which makes it more than just decent effort.

It's actually quite difficult to describe the album's style. It is straight forward basically and ravage, but the riffs are not in the vein of many death metal groups and definitely also not in Asphyx style... It is mainly old school shit and I think it probably takes a lot from thrash metal, just listen to "Frozen Soul", great mid paced and quite slow, for this album, song with cool headbanging riffing ("I got no feelings at all..." - yeah, just scream with Theo, dude). The same is with "The Blood I Spilled" or relentless riffing of "Slaughtered In Sodom". There are quite a lot of thrashing elements in these tracks, only played in death metal vein, don't know if you agree with me about that...?

And as I said, most of the music is very relentless and aggressive, songs like "God Cries", definitely the best track on the LP with its massive, slower chorus part, when you just must scream "GOD CRIEEEESSS!!!!!" together with Theo, or "It Awaits"... Some tracks are really fast for Asphyx standards and doesn't slow down even for the second, like "Died Yesterday", "Cut-throat Urges" or "Slaughtered In Sodom". They're pure rage coming out of the speakers. From the other hand "My Beloved Enemy" is slightly slower, but actually this is one of two of my favourite tracks from the album, I really like it a lot, its mood and Theo's depressive vocals, as well as quite melodic guitar solo in the end, even though while hearing it you definitely start to miss Daniels.

I must say I'm torn apart a little bit when listening to "God Cries". From one hand I enjoy it and think it is good album and worthy being in Asphyx discography, but from the other hand I think I miss the asphyxiated spirit too much in it. It does sound quite like different band and I wonder if it wasn't a mistake calling it Asphyx? Anyway, even if it is the weakest of all Asphyx albums, I still like it and think it's an important part of band's history.

Die hard fans may have been lucky and got the vinyl pressing of "God Cries", released by Joe Black Records, in limited 666 copies pressing. It does look fuckin' brilliant and contains two bonus tracks (demo versions of "Died Yesterday" and "The Blood I Spilled")... others might have bought the re-release CD under the title "Depths of Eternity"... Whatever you got, make your own opinion on the album. Personally, as I said, I like it, but miss the classic asphyxiated feeling in it.
Best songs: "God Cries", "My Beloved Enemy", "Frozen Soul", "The Blood I Spilled"

Isn’t it weird. One of the most unknown and unpopular albums from Asphyx is actually my favorite one. Being the only album without guitarist Eric Daniels (who had just disbanded a totally different incarnation of Asphyx with Ron van Pol and Sander van Hoof), this album was written and recorded by original drummer Bob Bachus and demo bassplayer-vocalist Theo Loomans who also played guitar this time. Although DeadHead guitarist Ronnie v/d Wey is mentioned in the line-up of Asphyx at this stage, I’ve read somewhere he in fact only played live with the band and not on this album(!)

Whereas Asphyx normally included huge amounts of doom on their albums, this was almost totally absent on God Cries, giving the impression this could hardly have been called a regular Asphyx album. Maybe that's why some fans didn't like it much. Yet I did and I know I am not alone in this. The album is a short, straight forward and fast piece of brutal death metal with some thrash metal riffs thrown in. Catchy tunes with high standard riffing and one of the best drumming performances from Bob Bachus in his entire Asphyx career. Was Theo Loomans better than Martin van Drunen? Yes, in a way he was! Their vocals didn’t differ that much but Loomans turned out to be a gifted instrumentalist and composer.