ALBUM REVIEW: Evil Summons Evil – Deviser
Alongside acts such as ROTTING CHRIST and VARATHRON, DEVISER are one of the first bands within Greece’s excellent black metal scene that are still active today. Forming in Crete in 1989 before relocating to Athens, the band quickly garnered a reputation with their early demos, along with their first three albums Unspeakable Cults, Transmission To Chaos and Running Sore, all of which saw the band establish themselves to wider audiences with their trademark melodic black metal sound. Long periods of creative dormancy for much of this century post-2002 have prevented the band from going on to share the same level of acclaim as some of their contemporaries, but they have nonetheless made their mark upon the Hellenic scene. Their fifth album, Evil Summons Evil, comes nearly 12 years since the release of their last full-length, and five and a half since their Howling Flames EP, and it’s arguably their strongest and most impressive work to date.
Death Is Life Eternal is a dramatic start to the record, with sharp guitars, cavernous drums and caustic vocals creating an imposing sound right off the bat. Blending together rhythmic bursts with feral, disjointed melodies, it takes its cues from old school black metal whilst still possessing a modern polish which makes it even more impactful. Cold Comes The Night, with its driven pace and chunkier tone, is another great piece of melodic black metal with a classic edge, with spartan leads and ambient keyboards allowing the vocals and dark undercurrent to take centre stage.
Absence Of Heaven follows in a similar vein, mid-paced and brilliantly catchy, with the acidic snarl of the vocals providing a stark counterpoint to the soaring music, and the result being punchy and punishing in equal measure. Tenebrae serves as a short but incredibly effective orchestral interlude, built around bombastic keyboards, percussion and operatic vocals to set the listener up for the next song, Of Magick, extremely well. Suitably epic, and featuring the haunting vocal accompaniment of Androniki Skoula, which adds a soulful aura to this hypnotic and majestic affair, it carries forward a lot of the best elements of the previous track and applies them to black metal, elevating the whole song in the process.
Evoking The Moon Goddess makes use of thunderous drumming and grandiose keyboards, along with a contrast from the searing vocals and weightier guitar work, to craft another powerful and at times bestial number that leaves its mark on the listener. Where Angels Fear To Tread utilises ominous acoustic guitars and sonorous spoken word passages, adding a cinematic quality to the already engrossing music, with the banshee shriek of the vocals and denser guitars being the key features that keep this exceptionally impressive piece of music firmly rooted within black metal. Sky Burial opts for a tighter guitar and bass sound, with a few faster moments injecting energetic flourishes into an album that rarely quickens the pace, thereby becoming a fantastic and literal change of pace that draws the listener in as it progresses.
Serpent God again sees more variation, with the guitars taking a noticeable backseat to the keyboards, vocals and drums to make for a layered and imaginative take on the band’s sound that really amplifies the subtler components that underpin their music without sacrificing much of what has made this album so impressive. When The Lights Went Out, with its animated leads and thicker vocal, is the perfect closer to the album. It captures the sort of mid-paced, melody-tinged black metal sound that has defined this record, whilst throwing in faster, more belligerent parts that help the music come alive.
Like all the very best Greek black metal, this is brilliantly epic and melodic, eschewing much of the rawer production and unrelenting intensity that a lot of classic black metal bands have in favour of a warmer, punchier sound that is fantastic in its own right. For those who prefer their black metal fast and feral, this is probably not going to have much appeal, as DEVISER have a tendency to find a steady pace and stick with it, but this actually allows a lot of the subtler elements to come to the fore in a way that they couldn’t if they were writing music at a blistering pace. Evil Summons Evil showcases a band that are not only back, but at their creative best, and hopefully listeners won’t have to wait another dozen years for album number six.
Rating: 8/10
Evil Summons Evil is out now via Hammerheart Records.
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