I must admit it, and probably the musicians of 2Tm2,3 may even choke me for such a statement, but when I hear the word “Christian” in the description of music, I immediately have a lot of negative associations in my head. What are they caused by? First of all, the memory of bands filled with amateurs who, on their way to faith, picked up instruments or microphones without necessarily knowing how to do it. Faith forgave questionable quality, and the media delighted in promoting popularity, giving space for expression to people whose declared Christian values could in fact be the only definition.
The first decade of the 21st century was full of this and did not have a positive attitude towards Christian rock, Christian rap or Christian metal. Timothy was a notable exception, but the situation was also different. After all, we are talking about a supergroup composed of truly renowned musicians who enjoyed widespread recognition before they started talking about their faith. And until now it is a glorious exception, because regardless of the contexts in which you want to include this group, “SVRSVM CORDA” it's ultimately a solid piece of guitar work… I mean, it's a blast.
I really didn't expect the musicians to play so hard. And that's the beginning of the album “Tie me up” these are low-set, distorted guitars beating on the kidneys and Litza's wheezing vocals. This trend continues “Amen Courage”, dominated by Budzy, who has been on a roll since the very beginning. Throughout the entire album we hear a lot of blast beats, the weight of which presses you to the floor so much that – assuming the Christian vision of the world – it almost pushes you to hell with its strength. There are a lot of thrash songs here “Water and Blood” Whether “The Love of Christ” Musically, they could easily be considered songs by Slayer or Sepultura from the “Arise” era. Did you expect this after all Tymoteusz's acoustic experiments that have dominated their work in recent years?
But not to be all rosy, I admit that there are some discrepancies here – when in “Mikha'El” everything is already on the verge of distortion, so much so that the listener wonders how much of it is intentional and how much of it is an accidental entry of the cat onto the console, and suddenly clean vocals enter the chorus. And unfortunately, in this environment, the inclusion of singing that sounds as if it was pulled straight from behind the pulpit sounds extremely grotesque. I will also admit that the moments of the album, in which Darek Malejonek is responsible for the compositions, are slightly different – they certainly bring some breath, they are the necessary moments of respite, because Maleo does not exploit low tones and speed as willingly as Litza and Budzy. But except solid “Women” they lack the expressiveness of Timothy's other two main composers.
Which doesn't change the fact that it's probably the heaviest Christian metal album I've ever heard in my life. And the heaviest, thrashiest album 2 Tim 2:3 in all their work. Even though I'm not a believer, I can't deny that I had a lot of purely musical fun from this album. The reason is simple – behind the 2Tm2,3 project are talented people who remember what they grew up with, know how to translate their inspirations into their own music and know exactly what they want to achieve.
2Tm2.3 “SVRSVM CORDA”, Stage Diving Club
8/10