Babylon Mystery Orchestra - The Godless the Godforsaken and the God Damned

Release Date: 2010
Label: Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING

1.  Catspaw
2.  Apollo
3.  Benai Elohim
4.  A Constitutional Right?
5.  Jesus Save...
6.  Hate Crime
7.  Ruin
8.  Viva Cristo Rey!
9.  ''We'' Is Killin ''Me''
10.  Godless
11.  You're on Your Own...This Time
12.  The Twelfth Imam

Total playing time:  59:50

April 20, 2010

Reviewer: Jesse

Now this is what I’m talkin’ about.  Getting stuff like this in the mail can make it all worth it sometimes.  Who would know that there’s an extremely politically outspoken guy in the Deep South who’s been making metal albums for seven years all by himself, completely independent of labels?  I sure as hell didn’t and probably still wouldn’t if not for this site.  This isn’t some garage stuff either, it’s professionally produced with super slick packaging and came with an elaborate press kit.  Sydney Allen Johnson, the man behind Babylon Mystery Orchestra, spared absolutely no expense on his new album.  Holy shit, this CD booklet had to have cost him a fortune!

Before I get to the music, let me just get this out of the way: The Godless, The Godforsaken and the God Damned is one long political diatribe that leans juuuuust a tad to the right.  When I say a “tad” to the right, I mean that this album could be the conservative manifesto.  Johnson’s picture of himself holding the Bible and a rifle while wearing a confederate army hat speaks volumes and says more than anything I could type out here.  Johnson is a man of deep conviction, clearly, and his band is the vehicle he uses to express these beliefs.

Musically, Babylon Mystery Orchestra is a pretty rockin’ slab of hard rock with some gothic touches that come mainly in the form of background synth.  The majority of the songs have strong guitar chords which are complemented by the trademark solos that break in midway through the song to add the melody.  The synth is used sparingly, but it does accent the songs very nicely in a way I haven’t heard in this style before.  Vocally, there is much to be desired as Johnson doesn’t exactly sing so much as he speaks the words out in a deep, almost narrative voice.  He clearly wants to make sure that people can understand the lyrics.  I was about to deduct points for this until I read in his press sheet that this was intentional and that he considers the album to be of a theatrical nature in which both lyrics and music take up an equal amount of space and complement each other.  I don’t agree that this is positive for a band to do as it puts the music second behind the message which is the antithesis of what I think makes good metal, but the fact that he admits it openly shows that he understands his music and knows exactly how he intends it to sound.  The songs themselves are all fairly simple and follow a standard formula that repeats itself on most of the tracks.  A few change the flow slightly with either a slow, almost doomy approach or come across as almost sing-along.  It’s nothing that’s going to wow you in any way, but I guarantee that you’re going to bob your head throughout the course of this album.

Despite the fact that I agree with probably less than half of what Johnson preaches, I can’t help but respect his steadfast principles and the colossal effort he put into producing this album and promoting it.  You don’t have to agree with art to appreciate it.

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