7th June 2025

Review: “Guilt of Gods” by Invicim

Citing influences in After The Burial, Motionless In White and Hans Zimmer, Midlands natives Invicim began their journey to sonic oblivion in 2023. If those influences didn’t give the game away, their collective vision was to forge a sound combining the epic grandeur of film scores when witnessed on the big screen with the down-tuned aggression of Nu-Metalcore. That blueprint was then added to with lyrical themes of mental warfare, dystopian visions, self-destruction and redemption as they sort to add defiant catharsis to the cocktail. An unholy trinity of singles in 2024 set the tone, “Waiting“, “Purge” and “Pillar of Myles” each gaining traction as the band looked to climb out of the poison well. For 2025 the band had bigger aspirations however and mixed and mastered by Myroslav Borys-Smith (Confessions Of A Traitor, Last Hounds) at Jigsaw Audio their debut EP “Guilt of Gods” is what they want to make waves.

After an epic 58 second introduction of Japanese orchestration and spoken word, “Ronin” begins with a brutal roar before breaking into clean vocals which float tastefully between “Make Yourself” era Brandon Boyd from Incubus and “The End Of Heartache” era Howard Jones from Killswitch Engage. Rich with American accenting they soar over heavy hitting staccato riff breaks that deliver a real sonic weight before a scorching extended technical solo in the final third. An unclean verse is a nice touch before the bombastic grand finale and it has to be said the opening cut is an absolute banger. Yes there is the age old debate about whether that introduction piece should be a separate track or not but given that the tune itself is so good it doesn’t matter. After the bounce and groove of the first cut “Lucid Fear” takes a more melodic direction with the style and grace of the aforementioned Incubus but the crushing weight and sonic intensity of a far heavier band. The orchestrations that accompany it are incredibly well done, giving it a brightness to contrast the heavy guitars and a cinematic quality. It might not quite reach arena filling, phone torch waving anthemic levels but its as close as you can get.

“Convenant” is an unexpected plot twist with seemingly KoRn inspired riffage and fleeting bursts of growled unclean vocals. Arguably the heaviest of the four cuts to make the grade, this one finds the band pushing the boundaries of their sound and digging up gold in the process. The rumbling bass is a powerful bulldozer, the thunderous percussion whipping up a storm and the dark lyrical narrative… well lets us say its as gripping as a violent storm in the dead of night. Urgent down-tuned chugs and programming usher in “Guilt of Gods” with alternating clean and unclean vocal lines building an air of tension. Pushing into Progressive Metalcore territory the bright, clean chorus is anthemic enough to be a sing-a-long moment after a couple spins. The sheer grandeur and vastness of this one is stunning and it makes you wonder just how far they could go with the right backing. Make no mistake, this isn’t a rough and ready debut EP but a highly polished affair that sounds more like a sampler to get the attention of a major label than anything else. It’s very much the finished article from a band who know what they want to sound like and have pulled out all the stops to achieve it [8.5/10]

Track Listing