ALBUM REVIEW: Blessing Of Despair – Devenial Verdict
Beginning life as an impressive, but more traditional version of a death metal act, the metamorphosis of Finland’s DEVENIAL VERDICT in recent years. Their debut album Ash Blind in 2022, has seen the band’s already muscular and powerful sound shift towards a style that is much more avant garde, atmospheric and jarring. This not only makes the Helsinki four piece one of the strongest progressive acts within the genre, but also one of the premier acts within the emerging dissonant death metal sound, providing a much sharper and impactful take on that styles discordant and gnarled approach.
Their second album, Blessing Of Despair, does a lot to expand upon and develop the lofty and imaginative sound of its predecessor, further growing the bands growing legend as one of death metal’s most stunning modern acts.
I Have Become the Sun launches into an incredibly dissonant, intense slab of death metal with intricate drums, throaty vocals and dark, frenetic guitar work that instantly marks this as a monolithic and ferocious offering, with only a few cleaner interludes allowing for any lighter moments, though even these are broodingly sinister. Garden Of Eyes, a steadier song with galloping drums and grating, rhythmic guitars, may not be as animated as the albums opener, but it remains just as forceful, albeit with a streamlined, classic death metal formula as opposed to the chaotic touches that made its predecessor so powerful, with the vocal performances, rather than the guitars, providing many of the abrasive focal points.
Moon-Starved sees this meatier, stripped back sound continued, but begins to incorporate some interesting elements to differentiate it from pure death metal, notably sonorous, baritone vocal passages and an inventive, ethereal approach to the guitars, which lend this a grandiose edge that makes it incredibly engrossing, whilst still being muscular and harsh, showing off the underlying melodicism that is often obscured by the discordant aspects. Blessing Of Despair sees this punchier side of the DEVENIAL VERDICT sound get expanded upon in greater details whilst bringing back the jarring, atonal sections that first appeared on the the first track, with the spartan, reserved style quickly giving way to the sort of cacophonous, rabid musicianship that has become DEVENIAL VERDICT‘s hallmark, resulting in a song that is varied and brilliantly adventurous in the process. Shunned Wander, a short, shimmering piece of subtle, guitar led ambience, is a greater instrumental piece that breaks up the albums two halves perfectly.
The Quietus, a brief slab of mid-paced, chunky guitars, rumbling vocals and tight, percussive drums, possesses a thicker, almost rock influenced sound, although it remains firmly rooted in harsh death metal, with subtle biting flourishes and bellicose vocals allowing this to still be belligerent and noxious. Solus, with its slick guitar work and authoritative, militaristic drums, adopts a leaner, progressive sound, with its core being evocative of IMMOLATION, but with the band’s own twist added to keep the listener on their toes and injecting lots of demented fills and dizzying riffs into the mix.
Counting Silence strikes a fine balance between muscular death metal, sharper, catchy leads, visceral gutturals and huge, droning moments that brings together both the bands musical heft and their creative riff writing, making for a song that is a cavernous and imposing effort. Cold Lantern an impressively layered affair with some great, weighty basslines and a minimalist edge, is a great, slow-burning track that gradually sees the fluid, warmer sound being punctuated by denser, aggressive touches, all with excellent, soaring lead guitars that pushes this song squarely into progressive death metal territory, making it thoroughly engrossing and distinct.
A Curse Made Flesh seemingly embraces a robust, guitar-driven version of the formula showcased on the previous track, sticking steadfastly to a funereal crawl that feels so much bleaker, with this gargantuan death/doom style being tempered by piercing licks and harsh growls. It doesn’t shift out of its slow and sludgy pace, but often hints at a climactic burst of intensity that is never delivered on, making for a suspenseful conclusion to this album that subverts the expectations listeners have come to expect from final tracks.
Following on from the brilliant songwriting and bleak, varied sound of Ash Blind, and crucially surpassing it, was always going to be an incredibly difficult task, but DEVENIAL VERDICT possess the required songwriting skills and natural affinity for writing this kind of immersive and bellicose music that they were more than capable of overcoming the lofty benchmark that their debut set for them.
Where Ash Blind is still quite firmly rooted within a dense, rhythmic death metal sound, Blessing Of Despair boasts a confidence and animated sound that emphasises the jarring hooks and caustic vocals that mean that this feels much more ambitious and feral at points than anything the band has created before. This is an album that showcases a band finally solidifying their sound, establishing a musical base to build upon moving forward that very few will be able to match.
Rating: 9/10
Blessing Of Despair is out now Transcending Obscurity Records.
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