Brutalism

This is the third full-length release from Dutch death metal crew Devious, and what a great slab of dark, heaviness it is. Like a finely matured slice of Edam, this is an extremely well-balanced affair – tasty but not overpowering, filling but not sickly (sorry – I had to get a Dutch cheese reference in there somewhere!).

How a band of such quality has passed me by I have no idea, but I shall be keeping an eye out for them from now on. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an album for everyone – it isn’t, for example, thirty minutes of face-melting brutality, intense gurgling gore-grind or non-stop blasting. Those who seek the rawest, most extreme metal imaginable may not find what they are looking for here.

However, there are instead dark, heavy, crunching riffs, epic melodies and harmonies, extremely dynamic song compositions, and excellent musicianship. The album starts with a very epic sounding intro, which wouldn’t be too out of place on an Epica album (but much heavier), before smashing us in the face with the visceral opening riffs of the excellently-titled `Heritage Of The Reckless’. Occasionally they remind me of fellow countrymen Detonation, but at other times I’m thinking of Yyrkoon – they blend melody, brutality, dark heaviness, groove and atmosphere together in a similar way to my mind. Occasionally the band’s thrashy roots come to the surface, inducing frantic headbanging (in me anyway!). This is particularly effective in the pounding ‘False Identity’ which stomps all over your face like an angry football fan.

This is all topped off by an excellent production courtesy of Jochem Jacobs (Textures/Split Second Sound Studios) and main songwriter Guido de Jongh. Arnold Oude Middendorp’s great roaring and guttural vocals are really brought to the fore, he manages to be both brutal and clear (something which a lot of native English-speaking bands don’t seem to manage), almost all the lyrics are easily audible. There is also a subtle keyboard presence throughout the album, which realty augments the songs and adds to the dark, heavy atmosphere.

Overall, the album is a great mix of pounding death metal, epic melody, visceral thrash and dark atmosphere. If you only listen to ultra-brutal death-grind you probably won’t like it, but if you want to hear something with real class that is dark, heavy and epic this could be the album for you.