Album Review :
xDoulosx - Birth Pains

Doulos – Birth Pains

This band was my big surprise hit at Audiofeed Festival last summer. Sure, I’d heard the name for several years and probably sampled a track or two online, but I’d never fully experienced the band until that live set in a hot tent in July. They blew me away with their energy and riffs galore. Lots of tempo changes, fast parts, mosh parts, exactly as hardcore should be!

And so, while I was excited to review this album, my excitement also come with some degree of trepidation. Hardcore is a genre that is meant to be experienced in the live setting. Would the recorded versions hold up?

Fortunately, my fears were calmed soon enough. I often find myself having the same conversation with people when it comes to hardcore. To be truly great at it, you either have to do something new—which is really hard in a genre that’s been around for 40 years, gone through numerous changes, and with so many (hundred, thousands?) of bands doing it. OR you have to do the tried-and-true sound but do it so well that it makes people stand up and take notice.

Doulos mostly fall into the latter category. There’s nothing experimental here. No eerie keyboards, no progressive parts, nothing too metallic. This is just hardcore. It’s just that it’s hardcore done incredibly well. Stylistically, there is a mixture of old school (lots of circle pit tempo sections), new school (slowed down mosh parts), and lots of going back and forth between the two.

Lyrics deal with a number of subjects loosely tied to the album title, taken from Jesus’ warnings (Matthew 24 and/or Mark 13) about the signs of the end times. The achieve the remarkable result of being both faith-forward and deeply personal. “24th Thesis” is a testimony of God’s working in the life of the believer, yet acknowledges the need for humility and gentleness in sharing the Gospel:

My faith is a weapon
My tongue is a sword
If I use it to slay
What’s it all for?

The title track deals with necessity of suffering in the life of a disciple:

Pregnant to troubles
I give birth to lies
I’ve laid in bed with the lord of the flies
I must be humbled
I must be tried
I must be broken, bloody, bruised and despised

My only complaint with the album is that it’s a little on the short side. There are 9 songs and 3 of them clock in at under 2 minutes each. Of course, it’s better to leave your audience wanting more, than begging you to stop. If you get a chance to see this band live, do whatever it takes to get there.

For ordering info, go here: https://xdoulosxrr.bandcamp.com/album/birth-pains