No Gods, No Masters – Demo
Search for “No Gods, No Masters” online and you’ll find loads of information that has nothing to do with this band. You’ll find links related to this anarchistic/feministic/labor slogan, the movie with this name and something related to a game (Fall Out). Apart from that there are songs released with this as title (Amebix, Arch Enemy for example) etc. Makes you wonder where this new Dutch got their name from. My best guess is they refer to the slogan, as they use the original quote Ni Dieu, Ni Maître as a title for the opening track.
No Gods, No Masters was formed in 2012 in the east of the Netherlands. A couple of members from different metal and hardcore bands (My Endless Fight, Gilo, Human Demise) decided to give it a go with some slow, brutal music and to form a sludge band. There’s a couple of reasons I think this could work out pretty well for them. First of all, there’s a lot going on when it comes to sludge, there’s enough interest. Off course this is also a risk, as there is loads of competition who also demand attention from sludge fans. So, as a sludge band you need something to make you stand out from the crowd. Writing catchy music might be just that, and that’s what No Gods, No Masters did on this demo EP. The four songs on this EP reminded me of Herder and Haggatha. It has that drive and energy we know from Herder and combined this with that ultra-heavy sludgy doom sound of Haggatha.
This demo starts of with it’s best song “Ni Dieu, Ni Maître”. The drive in this song is just amazing. Don’t play this stuff if you’re doing something that requires a more delicate approach as this will make you rumble through it like an bull in a China shop. Things slow down a bit on second song “Lost For Words”, which is my least favorite song of this EP. “Lie To Me” and “Retired” pick up some speed again which works better for this band.
No Gods, No Masters strive for space domination. I doubt they will work that out, but finding a label with this material shouldn’t be too hard.
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