Terminal Gods Unveil 'Movement' / 'Road Of The Law' Single

Phil

November 24, 2015

As the 80s gave way to the 90s it became irritatingly fashionable to wax lyrical about bad hair cuts and the ubiquity of Phil Collins whilst simultaneously ignoring the amazingly varied music that appeared throughout that troubled decade. As the mists of time seek to obscure the 80s, however, so a new generation of bands are starting to establish themselves, riffing on the dark synths and howling feedback of post-punk whilst adding a modern twist to proceedings and, in doing so, they’re bringing back some of the vital spirit that powered the hedonistic likes of The Cure, The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Birthday Party.

Simultaneously forward thinking and with one eye on the past, Terminal Gods are the claustrophobic sound of a band born in a darkened garage and honed in dank venues stretching out across Europe. Listen carefully and you’ll hear the creak of leather underneath the groaning guitars and Robert Cowlin’s dark baritone, but what is plainly apparent is the rock ‘n’ roll heart that beats at the centre of this tightly focused outfit. Indeed, whilst the band may turn heads with their ominous studio sound, it’s live that Terminal Gods are most at home and the band have already drawn considerable kudos for their ferocious live performances.

Until the band next hit the stage, we have ‘Movement’ (a double A side backed by ‘road of the law’), a blistering track that sounds like The Cure packed full of amphetamines and sent staggering off to a Fields of the Nephilim gig. It’s the sort of single that music fans play, hunched over their turntables, contemplating how quickly they can get their mates over for a listen, and it harkens back to the tape-trading days of the eighties when anticipation was as much a part of the musical experience as the actual listening. moreover, it’s one of those accursed tracks that works its way into your brain and then sticks there for days, demanding you play it over and over until your relentless appetite is finally sated. As the band themselves say about the recording:

“We wanted to recreate the TG live experience, complete with all the dynamics, drama, and air of a live show. We did this by seriously limiting ourselves in some production areas, such as compression and quantising, but making full use of mic techniques and in studio effects. The aim was to emulate older, analogue style recording technique to get the beautifully flawed feel of some of our favourite old punk singles.”