...SIŁA I PIĘKNO MUZYKI TKWIĄ W JEJ RÓŻNORODNOŚCI...


..::OPIS::..

Muzyka emanuje zimną, zmechanizowaną mocą z niemal nieludzko szybką, absurdalnie precyzyjną perkusją i riffami. Rytmy mają industrialny charakter – kłują, walą, szarpią, niczym w nieustającym, zacinającym się wirze pneumatycznych, tłokowych uderzeń.
Dźwięk przywołuje w myślach obrazy gigantycznej, 'robotycznej' fabryki na najwyższych obrotach, produkującej złowrogie szeregi uzbrojonych cyborgów gotowych do zniszczenia naszej kruchej ludzkości.

'Reprisal' jest niesamowity!

FA


Through a very industrial sound, Devolved is able to push the driving force of their riffs forward. This is an album that sounds like either Fear Factory or Strapping Young Lad in this nature. The songs aren’t the most complex ever and maintain some straightforward guitar patterns. The band has a ferocious nature that will appeal to a number of Heavy Metal fans. The more Avant-Garde fans of the genre might want to look elsewhere as this is straightforward material overall.

The harsh vocals that are placed on top of the music recall the two aforementioned bands again and the crushing riffs rarely devolve into anything too progressively interesting. Instead, people looking for something similar to recent Fear Factory material should find a lot to like here as well as anyone looking for industrial metal at all. There is also a The Faceless comparison that can be made and the added instruments will appeal to fans of that band as well. An early highlight to be found here is 'Reprisal Of The Damned' early in the disc’s overall timeframe. The drumming needs to be clinical and precise with this type of material and the band is solid in this area. The vocals are the least appealing of the performance aspects here because they serve more as a place holder and don’t stick out in any way. The heavy and jagged riffs of this band may also appeal to fans of Meshuggah, but I believe the aforementioned bands are better reference points.

One final note has to be given to Nile because when Devolved is in its most Death Metal state, they sound a bit like them. 'Collateral Damage' has enough Death Metal sounds to be compared to this disc alone. There are a number of Heavy Metal fans that will be able to derive enjoyment from "Reprisal", but it’s really only a very good release overall.

Adam M


Here’s a unique and challenging album from the usually predictable Unique Leader Records. Hailing from Australia but residing in Los Angeles, Devolved have 3 previous full length albums under their belts, none of which I’ve heard, so I had nothing to compare this blind purchase to. My last blind purchase was also a Unique Leader release, Inanimate Existence‘s excellent tech death record, Liberation Through Hearing, so I thought this might be along the same lines.

A little bit wrong I was.

What we have here is a interesting style of metal that mixes chunky almost cyber, futuristic style of metal along lines of Fear Factory and Strapping Young Lad, with some djent-y leanings like Meshuggah and such, but then inject the whole affair with bursts of warp speed technical death metal similar to the likes of Beneath the Massacre or even Origin. Cyber-tech-djent-death- metal I guess? Some may detect a hint of deathcore or metalore, especially in the more mid range vocals, but don’t let genre tags put you off a savage display of mechanical technical mastery.

Regardless of everything at play here- it’s impeccably played with a incredible level of skill and precision that warrants your attention. Drummer John Sankey, who has played in pre Tim Yeung Divine Heresy as well as a live performer for Fear Factory, is literally a machine behind the kit giving the music its considerable mechanical/industrial tinge. But the trio isn’t just content to just lurch and stagger with djent-y muted riffs. They spent about 1/2 of the album delivering surgically technical death metal that’s on par with most of the label’s offerings but with a cleaner, intelligent, cyber edge rather than purely guttural brutality.

Both styles are delivered impressively from the throttling twiddly tech death assault of openers “Systematic Avenger”, and “Accelerated Human Degeneration” through the deliberate lurch of “Embodiment”, blistering mechanized thrash of “Apocalyptic Visionary” and massive lope of “Corrupted Mind Processor”. Though I could have done without the spoken words and samples of instrumental closer “Inanimate Infinity” . A few futuristic sample and robotic whispers keep the album clinically robotic, but nothing that takes it into pure cyber metal territory. And the album ends with a cover of Exhorder‘s “(Cadence of) The Dirge”, a very cool and left field cover for the band’s style, giving a Southern crawl a mean cybernetic edge.

Devolved sits stylistically and thematically somewhere in the ball park of The Faceless, Anomalous, Vildjharta and Fear Factory, so if a excellent mix of all those bands and styles appeals to you, go ahead and grab this late year surprise from Unique Leader Records.

Erik T



..::TRACK-LIST::..

1. Systematic Avenger 05:17
2. Accelerated Human Degeneration 03:52
3. Reprisal of the Damned 06:50
4. Supremecy Enforced 05:24
5. Embodiment 06:54
6. Collateral Damage 04:06
7. Apocalyptic Visionary 05:07
8. Terminal Enslavement 05:09
9. Corrupted Mind Processor 07:08
10. Inanimate Infinity 03:51

Bonus Track:
11. [Cadence of] The Dirge (Exhorder Cover) 06:07



..::OBSADA::..

Mark Haggblad - Vocals
John Sankey - Drums
Mark Hawkins - Guitars, Bass




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3_g7_fEVys



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