Various Artists - 'God Of War: Blood And Metal'

A couple of excellent tracks from Opeth and Dream Theater, but a lot of filler.

While this collection is admittedly a great musical tie-in for the God of War video game franchise, the absolute necessity of God of War: Blood and Metal should prove questionable at best for most metal fans.

For starters, the lineup of artists included here, while diverse enough stylistically, is basically a smattering of Roadrunner’s own acts, most of which might not necessarily line up together in the hearts of most metal fans buying this record.

Though most record buyers will probably head for this comp in search for Opeth’s exclusive contribution—the comparatively mellow and acoustic “Throat of Winter—and will find themselves quite pleased with what they find, the question as to whether or not they want to lay down the hard-earned for one track remains a valid one, indeed.

Elsewhere, the promising youngsters in Taking Dawn turn in a surprisingly twee number in the form of the 300-inspired track, “This Is Madness.” an overtly goofy piss-take on the God of War friendly sword-and-sandal archetype, while Dream Theater provides us with “Raw Dog” a startlingly heavy and involved instrumental.

The album is also unfortunately bookended by naff tracks, as well: Mutiny Within’s yawning sprawl “The End” and Killswitch Engage’s by-numbers anthem, “My Obsession, which brings Blood and Metal’s validity greatly into question.

So do you wanna lay down the cash for two solid tracks out of six? Caveat Emptor, as they say.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.