With this modern cover art (look, it has got roots 'n' scratches in it) and a bland logo with tribal shit in it, I was expecting some emo gayness. But Devious almost fucked me deaf! Modern death metal is the band's trade, but how much that says, huh?

'Vision' is the band's third full length platter already, but my first encounter with them. Devious utilize everything from blasting to mid-paced groove. Age-old death metal riffage meet some epic and melodious stuff. Then there are these soundtrack-ish bits. Fucking informative, that?! Well, think of Gorefest, God Dethroned and Thanatos with hints of Aborted. Basically this is very much rhythm and riff oriented. 'Respiration of Fear' is the most melodic song and partly Gothenburgish, but still hellishly heavy under its beautiful female chanting. Then again, 'Impulse Overload' begins with Fear Factory style drumming and bass work, just to explode into 'Summoning Redemption' worship (awesome song from Morbid Angel's 'Gateways to Annihilation' [2000]). Arnold Oude Middendorp's throaty growl is almost as low and ripping as Gorefest's Jan-Chris de Koeijer's, and that is low! Surely there is more screamed stuff too.

The production is very strong. The guitars rip and mangle. The bass provides extremely low levels. And the drums, well, they simply pound! Synthesized and sampled soundtrackish stuff gets a bit buried, but this is metal after all. The vocals are well balanced with the instruments. The lyrics are about this modern brainwashing society of shit.

The songs aren't very catchy, and that is the biggest drawback on the album, easily. There simply is no enough ear-catching riffage heard. Just check out the amazing choruses of 'Predefined' and you'll hear what I mean this album is short of. However, at least the band's performance is so powerful, that they'll hammer them in if you're willing to pay some attention to the music. I suggest you inspect this if you want your death metal modern, but not covered with sugary melodiousness. It's all about brutality and not giving back, eh?

Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
10/08/2009 16:25