In my opinion the term Brutal Death Metal gets bandied about a lot these days but the old school meaning of that term has been lost and it gets tagged on to a lot of Slam bands and Death Metal bands who only care about break downs and pig squealing. Finnish band Devenial Verdict though are here to change that perception with their debut album entitled ‘Ash Blind’, released by Transcending Obscurity Records on both CD and LP. Despite this being Devenial Verdict’s debut album they are no new band taking their first steps. They actually started back in 2006 and have a couple of EPs and a couple of demo releases to their name. However, with the Helsinki quartet also being active with myriad other bands such as Church of the Dead, Ratak, and Nuclear Omnicide, time plays a big factor. 2022 though sees a new dawn through ‘Ash Blind’.
‘Ash Blind’ is a throwback to the early Finnish Death Metal scene and has that crushingly heavy force that not only put said scene on the map back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, but even moved someone enough to write a book about it. Devenial Verdict are one hundred per cent a band of that ilk, and their sound consists of guitar leads that have a crisp, deadly feel, rhythm guitar tones that add a pleasing hint of melody to proceedings, (As well as some intricately worked melodic passages that also combine superb wandering guitar leads) and machine gun trigger like drumming backed with a solid wall of sturdy, brutalising bass play.
I like that Devenial Verdict aren’t afraid to explore the more atmospheric realms and incorporate it into their style of Death Metal. Thich chugging riffs sound even more brutal with a bleak, blackened harmony riding shotgun along with them and the band pull this off with seemingly little effort. As a result of this, tracks such as ‘Pravum’ have a strong brooding quality to the rhythms even whilst vocalist Riku Saressalo is busy bludgeoning us all with his maniacally barbaric raw throated growls.
For me though the intensity of the title track ‘Ash Blind’ coupled with some Progressive Rock influence on the technical guitar solos makes it stand out as the track of the album. Slow paced, bone splittingly heavy and with guitar tones of dark steel shot through the core of the song, it showcases Devenial Verdict at their most harrowing.
A stunning debut album, one that has been 16 long years in the making but has been worth every minute of the wait.
(8.5/10 Marksson)
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