Earlier this week, we ran a list of the best tracks from the New Wave of American Heavy Metal and because of that piece, I’ve been stuck in a time loop. You may be in 2022, dreading the oncoming election, civil unrest, and other unavoidable bullshit we peons have to live with, but to me, it’s 2007 and God Forbid are still a regularly touring band.
You see, one of the very first shows I ever attended was a God Forbid show. Well, actually they were opening for Anthrax at the now very forgotten Birch Hill in New Jersey. I was so stoked to see John Bush era Anthrax — though at the time they were just Anthrax — and couldn’t wait for the openers to finish their sets to see the thrash titans kick some serious ass on my home turf. But then along came God Forbid.
When I say those dudes blew the fucking doors off the place, that would be an understatement. At the time, I’d never really dipped my toes into the NWOAHM scene. I hadn’t listened to Lamb of God. Hadn’t really given Chimaira a second glance. And I certainly had never heard of God Forbid. But when they tore into their set in support of IV: Constitution of Treason, holy fuck was I a changed youth. Their intensity and precision simply blew me away and punched me square in the solar plexus. It changed the rest of the night and honestly, was a formative moment that made me realize that metal was happening all around me and that I didn’t need to clutch to the past that I hadn’t even been around to personally experience so hard.
So yeah. Today you get to relive that with me. We’re going to another one of my main haunts, the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, to watch these guys kill it in their backyard. We may have gotten them back onto the stage earlier this year, but I hope a little more exposure to today’s audience will bring them back for good…