Artist: God Forbid
Label: Century Media Records
Release Date: 12/9/03
Rating: 3 Skulls
Reviewed by Jotun (2/13/04):
Century Media decided that they should do something to kindle the fire before God Forbid's much-anticipated fourth full-length release Gone Forever hit the stores on February 24. Their answer is the Better Days EP, which includes a total of five tracks for the low, low price of $3.The EP features the new track "Better Days," which will be featured on the new album and has been played extensively by the band during the past three or four mini-tours they have been a part of. The second track is an EP-exclusive called "Allegiance." Third is a demo version of "Wicked" from the band's highly-acclaimed 2001 release Determination. Finally, to give you more bang for your buck, the EP features the tracks "Reject The Sickness" from the album of the same name, and "Mind Eraser" from the band's first album Out Of Misery.
As for the quality of the release, I have mixed emotions on this one, simply because I love the band so much. I think that the two new tracks are a mix of the tried-and-true, thrashy God Forbid sound that has garnered so much attention for the band over the past few years. However, it does take a big step in another direction, incorporating a number of hardcore influences - including metal-influenced breakdowns and clean harmonies in the vocals courtesy of guitarist Dallas Coyle.
The demo version of "Wicked" hardly seems any different than the full-length album track, other than an obvious lack of tight production. Not to say the demo is bad, but just very similar to what we've all heard before. Re-releasing the other two tracks without having the band re-record them and change them up a bit just tells me that Century Media is either trying to boost the sales of the God Forbid re-releases that came after Determination's success, or they are just trying to round out a very short EP release.
The bottom line is that the EP is a good grab for a great price for collectors of the band's discography and those not as familiar with God Forbid's musical history. For those of us who know the band's material pretty well, just save the three bones and put it towards supporting the band come February 24. My final reaction is that the label should have considered releasing this EP about five or six months ago, back when fans started getting restless while waiting for the new album.
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