Después e varios singles y demos Brandon, integrante de bandas como Suffocated by Misery o Necroscythe, por fin se decide a lanzar los cinco temas que componen este "Gods of Pain". Un trabajo que da rienda suelta a las distintas influencias del músico al mismo tiempo que nos sumerge en su universo personal , sumidos en una depresión donde el sufrimiento se hace presente. Lo primero que cabe destacar este trabajo es la controversia que pude llegar a crear entre puristas del género y aquellos más receptivos ante un black más experimental. Los cinco tema que integran este trabajo son toda una declaración de como hacer un álbum totalmente inclasificable, repleto de estilos y con un sello muy personal que se va haciendo cada vez más presente a medida que el álbum avanza. Tenemos que destacar la extensión de los temas que nos da la oportunidad a Brandon para que se exprese con un black melódico que podemos decir que está presente en todo este álbum. Un tema como "Old Wounds" que da comienzo con unas guitarras acústicas y melódicas y que poco a poco va ganando intensidad hasta convertirse en un tema de black/death con influencias post y progresivas, es lo más cercano que el oyente puede estar de un tema de black metal "clásico" en este trabajo. A partir de aquí, y sobre todo en "Gods of Pain" Brandon se sumerge en una serie de desarrollos dentro del black que deben y mucho al progresivo, al shoegaze y como no al post-metal, al tiempo que las voces otrora violentas y agresivas, avanzan por terrenos limpios y claros, los tempos se muestran esquizofrénicos, capaces de dibujar un paisaje intimista y recogido, para acelerar y sembrar el caos y es también aquí donde elementos como la depresión o el abatimiento hacen acto de presencia. Brandon a construido un álbum que presenta suficientes elementos que podrían sembrar el caos en cualquier álbum, sin embargo Brandon se muestra preciso y acertado a la hora de mezclarlos ofreciendo un trabajo serio y variado, muy dinámico y repleto de musicalidad. (8,4).
1. Old Wounds 09:20
Take my life away, rotten and decayed
Tear me, slash my throat, fulfill what I wrote
She comes to me in sleep, searching for souls to reap
She sews my eyelids shut
I reopen old wounds, thoughts so deeply scarred
Romanticizing relics, idols of the past
She's draped in rays of Summer; its warmth blisters my skin
Its elegance, unheard of
Pouring from my darkest dreams, distortions of reality
Dancing forth from blackened nights, obscuring what was once in sight
Filth spills out from open sores, taints my needs and my desires
Sunlight, I can never reach; I've been tattered, I've been worn
By this blight
She's draped in rays of Summer; its warmth blisters my skin
Its elegance astounds me
And death blossoms within
2. Lusting for Gore 08:41
Come now and rise up from your den
And let this ceremony begin
This is your chance, don't let it go
Now and forever, you'll be one of us
Don't waste our time with simple doubts
Just follow the roaring of the crowd
With empty hands, you'll find your way
For we will feed you all you are to say
Eyes frozen with fear, petrified for this day
When everything grinds to a halt
Onlookers chanting, lusting for gore
It never fucking ends
Smear my blood into the sand, grind me into dust
Euthanize me tonight
The culmination of all that you know
The perfect ending to all that you are
One final bow as you take your last few breaths
This is the deathblow that you've been aching for
His brains now stain the sand
So vile, this sight
Rejoice; the inept one has died
3. Gods of Pain 14:26
These lungs can't hold much air no more
Yea, they've been slashed up real good
This heart don't beat that much these days
There ain't much blood left anyways
And all is quiet, motionless; dead on the shore
So I'll take this pain and pawn it off, till you call me yours
Just please don't leave
I chase the star for days upon days, but still it's trickling away
I watch the skies, I read the signs, days become weeks
Melt into years, fruitless years
Throughout these years, my hope fosters a hate
Severance; isolation from that which I need
My mind ablaze, yet my soul still yearns for
Solace, clarity, numbness
Something, just anything
To quench this spiteful flame
Depression's maw snaps at my legs
And so I'll crawl, listless and stricken
Gods of Pain, leave me to rot
Always find myself grasping at empty words; excuses devoid of anything rooted in reality
So Gods of Pain, please just let me be
I'm suffocating, choking on the smoke of a body that burns
Incinerating, illuminating the deepest corners of the soul
Bathed in light, my spirit just might separate from these earthly bounds
To join the great caravan of the deceased
Now
Could you ever have believed the somber hex inflicted on me?
When I die, my disease will feed the soil
It's always looming, this mortal coil
So steal one glance before you turn; this is the funeral of all that you have learned
You're writhing
4. The Willow 09:04
Throw me away, shrouded in endless gray
Underneath the docks, spattered upon the rocks
Your light, it dances no more
Your radiance dies, abhorred
The willow that stalks as you weep
The creature, which hunts while you sleep
You wish to escape but all shall be scathed
Within the skull lies your own grave
They watch you sin and analyze your deeds
You pig, you whore
We'll feast upon your screams
So let the retribution begin, pay back the trepidation within
In vengeance we thrive, our melancholic hive
With our eyes scorching your skin
Risen from the black depths, bringers of your mind's death
Ripping at my own flesh to conjure up your personal death
Risen from the cold depths, takers of your last breath
Rest your head in defeat; forevermore you're soulless meat
Rise, deity of reprisal
Rise, my glorious idol
Ruin those who broke me, rain down punishment
Rising from the black depths as you draw your penultimate breath
Disfigure my flesh to summon your well-deserved death
Underneath the docks, spattered upon the rocks
Your son, he smiles no more
But your crimes won't go ignored
The willow still watches you weep
The creature preys on you in sleep
You'll never escape from this torment that drapes itself over your face
Now choke on my
Agony
5. Her Malice 13:20
No...
How can it be that I've closed my eyes again?
Wrapped up in the search for something pure
Just when I thought I'd found my peace again, you wrapped your hands around my neck
I should've known
You came to me masquerading; oh, so weak and frail
I bought into every one of your lies
I desired nothing more than to dig you up from your grave; but you wanted nothing more than to bury me in your place
Am I a pawn to the malice of others?
Has it been one-sided all along?
Dying for so long, breaking my back for your smile
Fruitless efforts unveiled, reveal the lie under which a fickle, frail-heart fool resides
For someone, for something
No...
So once again, I'm a marionette to your needs
You take advantage of my ignorance
Just when I think that I am safe again, you bury your nails into my neck
How didn't I know?
I was never myself
54:51