It’s hard to believe that GOD FORBID are already on album number four. It seemed like their second album, Determination, only came out a little while ago. IV: Constitution of Treason is bristling with sweet metal riffage, biting aggression, and their most ambitious songwriting structures. The album is centered on a concept story about the destruction and reconstruction of society as a result of a nuclear world war in the near future. The weak point here is in the execution of conveying a brooding, apocalyptic atmosphere, which comes off a bit weak. However, don’t make the mistake of assuming that the tone is anything but dead serious. There are smoother and smarter transitions between metalcore breakdowns and sleak metal stylings, which helps to further separate themselves from their peers who opt to make their song structures easily predictable. There are the default Swedish metal riffs that have been already been pre-written by actual Swedish bands 10 years prior. The guitar duo of Doc and Dallas Coyle continue to grow as fantastic players and even rival the ARCH ENEMY tag team of Michael and Chris Amott at times here. GOD FORBID are right at the cusp of becoming more than just “a metalcore band.” It’s going to take a few adjustments and improvements here and there but they’re definitely moving in the right direction. (Century Media Records)