It’s time for Devenial Verdict to announce their first album.
Formed in 2006 in Finland, the band composed of Riku Saressalo (vocals), Okko Tolvanen (drums, Spiteborn, Rätäk), Sebastian Frigren (guitar, Dirt, Nuclear Omnicide, Rätäk) and Antti Poutanen (bass, Church of the Dead, ex-Hooded Menace) signed after two demos and two EPs to Transcending Obscurity for the release of Ash Blind.
The album starts with an ominous sound on Hope, a composition which suddenly gets stronger to offer a dissonant and heavy sound accompanied by raw screams. A few leads bring a soaring and haunting dimension to this dark sound which mixes oppression and aggression before Pravum, the next track, which is just as thick and heavy. Melodic leads contrast again with the abrasive riffs and unleashed screams, then Ash Blind, the eponymous track, comes to bewitch us with its soft introduction followed by a raging double kick. The rhythmic gradually strengthens to become catchy, but airy tones remain and blaze on this Death Metal basis, letting Sun Hammer crush us with its jerky riffs. We will also notice massive and impressive screamed choruses which perfectly fit this track’s coldness while Mourning Star reveals much more soothing tones to hypnotize its audience. The melodies blend together before the rhythmic explodes for a short while, then the band goes back to rage on The Contemptor, which lets the saturation fully express itself. The thick riffs know how to play as much on aggressive accelerations as on an unhealthy groove coupled with screams, while Inanition will play with heavy sounds and some oppressive slowness to feed the darkness. The album ends with World Breaker, a track where the infernal saturation answers to energetic and raw riffs, creating waves of brutality interspersed with short more humble parts which allow violence to give an additional strength. A lead part will come to offer us a moment of respite before the frantic rhythmic crushes us one last time to close the album.
Devenial Verdict’s cold and dark sound knows how to fascinate us with majestic tones, just as it can crush us with an intense saturation. Ash Blind will appeal to Death Metal fans with its heady melodies, but also to Blackened Death fans who are looking for raw rage.
80/100