Find the coverage and some great photos of this year's Devilstone Open Air written by our Lithuanian contributor Inga here>> www
Death metal is such a limitless genre. You can do whatever you'd like. It can be over the top technical or slow. Brutal or insane and it's all so good. When we made "Visions of Death" it just came out with a natural old school-ish vibe and that's great, but our newer material has a much more modern technical vibe. I love how death metal has evolved.
For me, death metal should be heavy as fuck, brutal (which doesn't necessarily mean "fast"), atmospheric and evil. If the "evil" thing is not there, you can't label yourself death metal, that's a fact. I'm so fucking close minded when it comes to metal music... I listen to the SAME hard rock, heavy, thrash, doom, death and black metal that I used to listen to 15 years ago.
This is the second album for Devious and their first for growing Dutch label Deity Down Records. Devious debuted strong with 2003's "Acts Of Rage" on Spitzenburg Records. "Domain" takes everything that made the band's debut strong and takes it into the next level. Devious' death metal is inspired by the American and European scenes and while most bands concentrate on being the most brutal around, this band concentrates on writing groovy, brutal and memorable technical death metal in vein of the early progenitors. In comparison to "Acts Of Rage" the band's material has become faster, more technical and overall there's more groove to be found on "Domain". Also, occassionally Devious inserts atmospheric synthesizers into their songs, which elevate the material and somewhat reminiscence of US death metal combo Aurora Borealis. Another factor that contributes to Devious' recognizable sound is their 6 string fretless bass, which in combination with Frank Schilperoort's impressive drumming form the foundation for each of these highly brutal cuts. Since their debut, the band has enlisted a new vocalist in Coen. He succeeds suprisingly well in replacing previous singer Arnold Oudemiddendorp. The production on this record is outstanding and easily outdoes their critically acclaimed debut. Artwork and lay-out are great, although the cover artwork is a bit on the dark side. This definitely is a very promising release for both Devious and their label Deity Down Records, pick it up now!http://www.devious.nlcomment itWouter 8
