You gotta love the "never say die" New York City attitude of Brooklyn’s own Merauder. And they are back with a vengeance. Enter – "God Is I", their best release since "Master Killer" in ’96.

Being one of the originators of metalcore, formed 20 years ago, Merauder has survived line up changes and tragedy; the death of original guitarist Javier "SOB" Carpio (‘06). Lead vocalist Jorge Rosado (Ragmen, Ill Nino) resurrected the band with fresh blood back in ’08 with Drew Smerdon (Bass), Dave Stafford (Guitar), Darian Polach (Guitar), and Bobby Blood (Drums, ex-First Blood, Crematorium).

"God Is I" isn’t your typical mainstream whiny, clean vocal generic hardcore, but a perfect mix of metal and hardcore. Aggressive, massive riffs, ground shaking drums, and throaty vocals, an excellent example of what metalcore should be. Right from the bludgeoning groove on the opening track "Until", all the way through to the last beat on ‘Never Surrender’. Merauder’s press release states "Beaten up but never beaten down, "God Is I" pushes Merauder to the forefront of modern metal alongside heavyweights Lamb of God, Hatebreed and Shadows Fall". I couldn’t agree more.

"God Is I" contains of 11 tracks and is an iron fist to the temple, and only takes small breathers throughout the album. For example, the ninth track ‘Intro’, and a brief sound clip explaining the difference between thugs and gangsters on the fourth track ‘Gangsta’. It’s hard to pick my favorites, because the whole album kicks ass. I’ve narrowed it down to these three: ‘Built On Blood’, ‘Forgotten Children’, and ‘Hell Captive’.

The most disappointing aspect of this album is ‘Intro’ and ‘Ahora’ are in Spanish. Also that my promo copy did not include the cover of Grim Reaper’s ‘See You In Hell’, which is a Japan only bonus track.