Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Those deities we worship, those supernatural beings who judge, chastise, and inspire us, and to whom we either blame for our misfortune or act in reverence of when we find ourselves in need of spiritual uplift, those invisible beings in which we venerate will one day be considered past tense and the Gods Of Tomorrow will surely take charge. As with the old guards of Norse, of Roman and Greek persuasion, of those that sacrificed souls during a phase of the Moon, eventually all religions are superseded, all gods must fade away or perish at the hands of evolution.

A decade has passed for Victory, ten years since fans of the iconic German band have heard the distinctive sound that has been the calling card of the vanguard of the genre, and yet as the listener finds themselves reliving the vault, as the spice of Don’t Talk Science has kept the ears warm, from seemingly out of nowhere the Gods Of Tomorrow rise up and offer a new beat in which to worship.

Such is the time away from the souls of the fans, it is quite possible to forget that at one time they were spoken, shouted out with such pride as one of the big four, one of the bands that truly lit the studio alight and the venue on fire.

Time, it has a habit of reminding us of what we have missed, and in Gods Of Tomorrow, Victory don’t just allow themselves to re-enter the conscious of the listener, they barge down the door, set their gear up in the front room, and then invite the neighbours round for a full blown explosion of ingratiating lyrics and fine music.

As heavy as you want it to be, the album includes superb tracks such as Cut To The Bone, Dying In Your Arms, Unconditional Love, the excellent My Desire, Into The Light, Mad, and On Fire, and in these moments of sheer devotion and hard hitting respect and veneration, Giabbo Pontillo, Herman Frank, Mike Pesin, Malte Frederick Burkert and Michael Stein combine with such beautifully announced anger and precision that the ten years between studio albums feels as though it has hardly been any time at all.

The gods of yesterday will always fall, and yet occasionally a god, an elevated and adored god who plies their trade with guitar in hand, lyric on tap and drum kit poised to strike home, will be the gods of Tomorrow, and in that, as the name suggests, will be Victory.

Victory’s Gods Of Tomorrow is out now and available via AFM Records.

Ian D. Hall