Various Artists - God of War 3: Blood and Metal EP Review

Posted by Marshall Slayton on 03.14.2010

Roadrunner Records releases an exclusive EP for the God of War 3 video game! Which will win in the end -- blood or metal?



1. My Obsession – Killswitch Engage
2. Shattering The Skies Above – Trivium
3. Raw Dog – Dream Theater
4. This Is Madness – Taking Dawn
5. The Throat of Winter – Opeth
6. The End – Mutiny Within

First, a disclaimer: I’ve never played a God of War game. Not a single minute of one.

There, I said it.

I’m not opposed to the idea – I hear the games are amazing and I should definitely jump on the Kratos bandwagon. And, from what I’ve seen, God of War 3 looks pretty killer. So why would I choose to review this?

My excitement for the Blood and Metal EP was simple – I love Roadrunner Records and I enjoy most of the bands on the label. (Except Nickelback. Ugh.)

The last Roadrunner compilation I can remember was the Freddy Vs. Jason soundtrack, which featured the likes of In Flames, Lamb of God, Slipknot, Powerman 5000, and Ill Nino. So it’s apparent the label understands what headbangers expect from a metal soundtrack, and the God of War EP is no exception. With a lineup like Killswitch Engage, Trivium, and Dream Theatre, the main course for this disc is heavy metal, and I’m itching for moshing.

But that’s the problem… this isn’t a main course. At six tracks, the Blood and Metal EP is more like an appetizer. I wonder why the serving size is so light, since Roadrunner has so many good bands under one roof. Could they not pull together eight more bands and create the greatest video game compilation of all time?

Nope. Instead, they probably sent out a bulk email:

“HEY GUYS! WE NEED SOME NEW METAL SONGS FOR THE GOD OF WAR 3 SOUNDTRACK!!! ANYBODY CARE TO CONTRIBUTE?!”

And the responses:

Killswitch Engage: “Yeah, we have a leftover track from our last album. We can polish it up and give it to you. It’s about some girl, but there’s lots of screaming in it, so no one will know the difference. ”

Taking Dawn: “We wrote a song for the “300” soundtrack, but it got rejected. It’s about Sparta and features lots of masculine howling. Will that work? We don’t know what to do with it.”

Opeth: “ I wrote an acoustic song. I wasn’t paying attention.”

The two bands who took the assignment seriously are Trivium and Mutiny Within. Trivium’s “Shattering the Skies Above” is nothing short of excellent. The lyrics feel like they belong on a soundtrack to a game called “God of War.” Please observe:

Take me into the seas/ So I can clean off this disease/ Death will complete me/ It’s what I need

Trivium created the ultimate God of War song, and seem to be big fans of the game. Even Mutiny Within’s contribution, “The End” is a fitting coda to what could be the grand finale of a violent video game. The inclusion of a symphony only makes the track more epic, and Kratos should have a blast killing all kinds of things to this stuff.

Where the Blood and Metal EP fails miserably is consistency. Opeth and Dream Theater, whom I normally love, are just out of place here. Placing a 7 ½ minute song (with no ending) in the middle of an EP album surrounded by shorter songs is a bad idea, and ruins the flow. (The only band I know that pulled this off was Norma Jean, and they only did it once.)

Same thing goes for Opeth; they contribute a gorgeous acoustic ballad, “The Throat of Winter,” which would fit right at home on Damnation, but sandwiched between Taking Dawn and Mutiny Within is only jarring.

And don’t get me wrong, Killswitch Engage is my favorite band here. But if you’ve heard their last self-titled album, then you’ve already heard “My Obsession.” The band reaches back into its old bag of tricks and revitalizes the formula, untweaked and untouched. Even the title, “My Obsession,” sounds like “My Curse.” (Ten bucks says “My Misfortune” will be on their next album.) So while the song’s pretty good, you can’t help but feel they’re playing it safe.

You can purchase this EP on iTunes for about $6 or get a download code from the Ultimate Edition of God of War 3 for $100. If it comes free with your video game or you don’t mind dropping a few bucks, I would recommend checking it out, but this is only a mere sampler for six really good bands. Where they really get the chance to shine are in their full-length albums. Those are the true main courses.

The 411: This EP features really talented bands being forced to make a quick impression on the video game crowd. No track is truly awful, but altogether, they don’t mesh well. It’s like a bunch of pretty colors being mixed together to make an ugly gray or brown color. The highlight here is provided by Trivium, who really seemed to get the point of contributing to a video game soundtrack. Bonus points go to Mutiny Within for taking the epic route. The rest have offered good songs, but none truly worthy of Kratos and his war path. Let the bloodshed begin.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]