DEVENIAL VERDICT – Blessing Of Despair

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• Bands:
  DEVENIAL VERDICT
• Duration: 00:51:24
• Available from: 04/10/2024
• Label:

• Transcending Obscurity

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For several years now, the death metal scene has been so inflated that, in order to emerge, it is necessary to show extraordinary qualities; for this reason, some bands take the path of brutality, taking the rawness of their music to the extreme, while others opt for a more avant-garde approach, favoring technique or atmosphere. The level consequently rises, and only those with solid qualities and ideas manage to gain the upper hand: the Devenial Verdict, fortunately, are part of this category.
Born in Helsinki as a quartet in 2006, the Finns released two demos, struggled to find a stable lineup until 2012 and, once this balance was achieved, created two EPs. Probably, however, something still had to be sorted out within the group, so much so that the long-distance debut came some time later, in 2022, with “Ash Blind”, an album that received excellent reviews thanks to an original and unconventional proposal. schemes.
The new “Blessing Of Despair”, for which expectations were obviously high, moves in the same direction, that of a death metal that perfectly combines dissonances and atmosphere, working on depth and nuances, to forge an even more deep and full of tension. In particular, what is striking is the ability to profitably alternate outbursts and moments of anguished waiting, with the guitars splitting between lashing riffs and sharp, ringing melodies, in a game between emptiness and fullness that constitutes the backbone of many songs.
The comparison that comes most spontaneously, and which has already been made by many, is that with Ulcerate, for their visionary touch and ability to draw apocalyptic scenarios, but Devenial Verdict are not mere imitators, and in their music we also find the irregular structures of the Gojira, the nightmares and cryptic nature of the Blut Aus Nord and, last but not least, a courageous approach that denotes resourcefulness and mastery of one's means.
The sum of all these influences, elaborated with the right personality, is a handful of versatile and layered songs, which move naturally from a devastating anger to a sinister calm, with frequent pauses that allow us to digest the complexity of the proposal.
That the ambitions are very high can already be understood from “I Have Become The Sun”, a piece that combines aggression and a syncopated flow underlined by rigorous bass lines and repeated arpeggios, to create a state of turbulent hypnosis. With “Moon-Starved” the pace drops but the intensity increases, between dark embroideries and prog passages that are never an end in themselves, while “Garden Of Eyes” is an assault on our senses with an Obscura-style solo in the final part. “Solus” is the most concrete example of how Nordic music always manages to take the most unexpected paths, with outbursts that, without any warning, dissolve into ambient or vaguely psychedelic interludes; the plaintive notes of “Cold Lantern” are instead a dive into the deepest and most desperate madness.
To complete the work, yet another astonishing cover by the late Mariusz Lewandowski, recognizable in his style and ideal reflection of an album that is equally fragile and disturbing.