DEVASTATIÖN – Rise of the Dead (Blackened Punk Thrash Beyond Your Dreams)
Holy hell is this good. I mean my blood is still boiling hours later. I want to punch something, hard. Having never heard of Belgium’s DEVASTATIÖN before this, though they’ve been dishing out releases since 2007 and…now wait a minute… Yes, nevermind! I do remember these guys, but their album Pussy Juice Blues just pissed me the hell off for how stupid it sounded and I refused to even bother with a quick listen. So now I’m going to pretend these guys felt so slighted by my refusal that they came back with the most angry, thick, and violent blackened thrash I’ve ever heard for absolute revenge. You better get on this Rise of the Dead and pretend like you always thought these guys were cool.
Let me start by saying the opener of this one will raise goosebumps on your flesh like hungry corpses from a cemetery. Once the absolute power of the music hits, you’re hungry for whatever violence you can manage. Even limbless you’ll resort to biting. It’s just that kind of album, it brings out pure aggression. And it’s because DEVASTATIÖN do so many right things on Rise of the Dead I’m not sure I can write them all down before running out of bandwidth. From the deep, thumping cavalry smash of the drums, to the razor-edged riffs, to the Notre Damic keyboards, to the rasping warlock screeches, these guys do everything they need to prove everyone, and I mean everyone, we should have paid attention to them years ago. I call to them on wounded knees, please forgive me, I don’t deserve this awesome level of blackened punk thrash.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
DEVASTATIÖN – Rise of the Dead
Empire Records
Cover Art: Mörtuus (Raul Fuentes)
4.8 / 5
