Early Pestilence, Asphyx, Gorefest and God Dethroned. Nowadays Legion of the Damned, MaYan in Callenish Circle. What these bands have in common are death metal (in various forms) and the country of origin. One of the last possible associations connected to the Netherlands would be metal (e.g. Eddie Van Halen is a born Dutch). There aren’t many bands originating from the Netherlands and shaping the death metal genre with heavy impact. But this doesn’t necessarily mean nothing is happening in the Dutch branch of the genre that began forming in Florida in the mid 80’s. There are several line-ups evolving in local undergrounds. Such a case is Bloodgod. The day after All Saints’ Day the band released its first studio recording named Pseudologia Phantastica (an interesting term used in psychiatry for a disease most of you are probably familiar with).
This release brings us three individualistic death metal songs merged with thrashy elements. After hearing them for the first time, songs Heist, Wrecking Ball Surprise and Bloodgod don’t move boundaries or deliver anything new or exceptional. But this is only at first glance. When Pseudologia Phantastica is put on repeat (and with the length of ten and a half minutes that isn’t so hard), the EP gets better and more entertaining by each repetition. What makes the band so attractive to listen is the minimalism which could be the consequence of using no more than one guitar. The musical structure on its whole seems simple and plain but surprisingly that simplistic approach doesn’t take away from the band’s integrity. On the contrary, by that approach they only gain in credibility. Because of it they don’t sound as someone trying to be trendy and at the same time surpassing its abilities. Pseudologia Phantastica is not a bag full of death metal complexity in which many bands get lost. Riffs, drums and bass are not exceeding any musical virtuosity and the instruments are not competing with each other. But all that doesn’t change the impression of sincere and hectic energy that is created in this short span of play length. The song Wrecking Ball Surprise stands out with its straightforwardness and the vibe that does have a bit of punk attached to it (still the song stays very entertaining). Wrecking Ball Surprise and Heist are two very, very catchy creations. If the flow of these two develops (more or less) linearly, then the song Bloodgod, however, tries to be more diverse, musically more serious and have more obvious influences from thrash. The production of this EP is solid. The sound is clean; no one is neither too loud nor too quiet. Sounds of the instruments nicely complete each other and are not forcing their way one over another.
Summa summarum, there are people that will be saying that the musical structure Bloodgod delivers is predictable or naive. Maybe, but we have to bear in mind that these three guys released a decent EP that basically represents their demo. The bases, foundations on which this demo stands are healthy. And it's this health that’s important. If Bloodgod knows how to improve and upgrade these fundaments, then they could evolve into a band worth following and hearing what their first full-length might deliver (if it actually comes to one). Otherwise they could quickly become no more than just another band. Let’s wait – maybe we’ll be surprised.

Matic