Are my ears ringing? Why is everything in this style sounding so similar? It’s like déjà vu all over again for the umpteenth time. I remember listening to this everywhere – in my car, in the room, even in the bathroom. I listen to metal a lot. I’ve heard this as Liturgy, I’ve heard this as Disgorge, and some years back, I heard this as Pathology. Who is messing up the band names then? It’s as if someone, probably my sister, is deliberately changing my USB drive folders and renaming them every other year. This year it’s Devangelic, from Italy and no, it doesn’t have any Disgorge band member. They are ubiquitous since the late ‘90s.

This isn’t half-bad. This is actually pretty good. One of the best in this style even. Best since Pathology’s Age of Onset perhaps. We’re talking about the Disgorge-worship bands, mind you. This one isn’t as monotonous or dull. It’s actually crammed with quite a few variations and buildups leading to the standard breakdowns but the former is impressive. All of this happens without diminishing the speed (pretty much) or more importantly, the brutality. That can’t be touched. It’s a sin. Tamper with that and you’re out of the band or scene. Matti Way will unfriend you.

There isn’t a whole lot of technicality nor does the album have mind-boggling speed. It’s adopting the tried-and-tested method and playing it safe there. The music is rather intense though and rarely settles for something less than pulsating Suffocation riffing or at the most the massive Human Waste era chugging. The music is one-dimensional and there aren’t any surprising moments at all because the band doesn’t care. There are no leads, no sudden vocal variations; at the most there are well-timed breakdowns but nothing fancy at all. Out of the bunch “Disfigured Embodiment” stands out for its impeccable structuring within the self-imposed restrictions but on the whole, there aren’t really any hit songs because they’re all the same standard, more or less. It’s the album that determines the sound of this band and Devangelic has it all figured out.

This actually has members of a few bands I’m familiar with like Corpsefucking Art which has been around since forever, Putridity (good one), Stench of Dismemberment and the uber-slammy Vulvectomy. Thankfully this band doesn’t overindulge in slams and redundant (relatively) shit. It makes more sense than is the norm, and that’s what makes it click. The music has a good momentum going and brutality is top-notch. All performances are remarkable. Besides originality, Devangelic has everything including Disgorge worship. Brutal Death Metal fans are already queuing up ever since I mentioned that band name in the first paragraph. Nice.

[Visit the band's website]

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