One of the best jokes ever created was "rap metal." A suburban fusion between nu-metal (i.e. Korn) with a frontman that yelled out words in a "rap" fashion. The result was a golden age of LOL. Remember Limp Bizkit? If you didn't prior to clicking this review, you sure do now. Backwards hats, shaved eyebrows....or maybe I'm just thinking of Vanilla Ice. The possibility of a band mixing rap and metal together might seem funnier than a dog eating diarrhea, but here in my hand lay proof. Cipher's Children of God's Fire combines metal, rap stylized vocals and strong social/political lyrics/messages without coming off like the next gimmick.
Although Cipher's sound could be summed up in the word "metalcore," that would be a definite understatement as Children Of God's Fire covers many spectrums of what is considered "metalcore." The abundance of mosh breakdowns might seem cheesy like the abundance of mosh hats at metalcore shows, but is negated by the unconventional parts thrown in. For instance, in "Verse Vs. The Virus," MF Doom makes an unusual cameo. Mr. Doom raps over one guitar chugging while the other does metal sounding higher notes. After the overtly jocked Doom finishes his verse, tempo slows down once again for a duet between a piano and drum set. While the tone onChildren of God's Fire is similar to Candiria and Dillinger Escape Plan, the lack of tech wanking enables the listener to follow the flow of things more easily.
Instead of using the melodramatic disinclined-poetry clich's that are just as apparent in metalcore as nuts/corn in poop, Cipher edges towards a social/political angle. Vocally the words are spoken/rapped in a fashion similar to Zack De La Rocha in Rage Against the Machine, but deeper and without the intense screams. So that doesn't actually sound like Mr. Rocha, but you get the idea. Due to the song explanations included in the liner notes, it's obvious that the songs are packed with meaning. The only problem is the lyrics themselves are plagued with boring composition. In the song "Venom," the lyrics read as "Women and men with venom that both poisons men and women but crushes the women and ushers in male dominion. Ready for the new war fought inside this sickened, mangled, tortured, gendered vision." This goes on for a while. The song meaning is written as, "'Liberal' western society continues to reinforce antiquated gender norms and oppressive sex and gender binaries. Norms, inherent components of our relationships, inject venom that distorts the humanity of women, and threatens their autonomy." Without including too many lyrics/song explanations, the song explanations are much more to the point. Backups are reminiscent of Poison the Well or some other mid/late 90s metalcore band.
Listening to Children of God's Fire reminds me why bands like Cave In, Botch and Converge are so fun to listen to; an ability to combine the intensity of punk with the torque and technicality of metal. Cipher might not be as innovative as said bands, but their conscious lyrics and ability to push the musical envelope separates them from the loads of dumps labeled as "metalcore" today. If Cipher could get past the monotonous mosh breakdowns and other metalcore "must haves," their sound would definitely benefit. Even with these parts, Children of God's Fire is definitely solid.
