JOHN: 316: Visions Of The Hereafter – Visions Of Heaven, Hell And Purgatory

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

For those of you not up on your Biblical quotations, the above citation is perhaps the Bible's most famous quote. So, now you know how the band got its name, what about the music. From what I can gather this is the band's first full length release, the rest being EPs and the like. From what I have read the band delved mainly into drone music until the their latest release. It seems JOHN 3:16 has developed a taste for industrialized post rock. It's a very moody platter of electronic soundscapes and subtle instrumental builds.

The album's first track "The Ninth Circle" is a very atmospheric and moody piece featuring nightmare soundscapes and a subtle build that wants to explode but never does. In "Throne Of God/Angel Of The Lord" the industrialized beats and background sounds are not heavy, but the music is dense before guitar rhythms add a little more texture. The morosely titled "Abyss Of Hell/Clouds Of Fire" is not as heavy as it sounds, although the atmosphere is thick with tension and gloom, with an almost minimalist outlook, particularly in the sparse drum beats. The rest of the album continues in much the same path making some of the songs hard to distinguish from one another.

I should also mention the artwork is pretty cool. Some of the images are quite jarring and definitely cause one to pause and think.

Overall, Visions Of The Hereafter, sounded a bit samey to my ears, but that was probably the intent of the artist. For a modern post rock album, it's not a bad effort. If you are into a sound that is both minimalist and dense, I recommend you check out the samples and go from there.

Track Listing:
1. The Ninth Circle
2. Throne Of God/Angel Of The Lord
3. Abyss Of Hell/Clouds Of Fire
4. Ascent Of The Blessed (To The Heavenly Paradise)
5. God's Holy Fire
6. Star Of The Sea/Guardian Angel
7. The Inner Life Of God/The Father, The Son And The Holy Spirit
8. Through Fire And Through Water
9. Fall Of The Damned (Into Hell)

Added: June 10th 2013
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's Official Site
Hits: 1920
Language: english

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