It seems that all death metal fans have been hearing for the last decade is "Sweden this" and "Sweden that". What about the once-booming Dutch death metal scene that gave us such brilliant acts as THANATOS, PESTILENCE and ASPHYX? Clearly not content on remaining dormant, the Netherlands are striking back with new outfits such as DEVIOUS, an extreme/melodic/progressive hybrid hell-bent on uniting all death metal fans under one banner… either that or obliterating all life on the planet… can't tell which…

The basis for the band's sound is a concoction of blitzkrieg percussion, the flashy B-tuned riffs of AT THE GATES, and just the right amount of harmony and random progressive touch a la MORBID ANGEL. Keyboards are employed scantly throughout, but when given the moment to shine, particularly on intro "Entrance…", the most effective work of OLD MAN'S CHILD comes to mind. As far as chops, these guys got 'em. The cornucopia of technicality in the riffs is impressive enough, but the dual lead in "Third World Suicide" and bitchin' bass lead at the start of "Misanthropic Entities" are a workout for even the listener! Production-wise, this album delivers the sound that even the most discerning ear can appreciate: everything's clear and balanced, the guitars aren't too dirty OR clean and the kick of the drums isn't too sharp. It's almost like they've been reading my mind!

Basically, what we have here is a thoroughly solid, high-quality disc with which metal fans are going to have a hard time finding anything tangibly wrong. After all, if there's one scenario that's constantly annoying, it's when the IN FLAMES fan tells the NILE fan that his favorite music is nothing more than noise, and then the NILE fan complains that the IN FLAMES fan has never heard of true aggression, and then the CYNIC fan steps in and tries to persuade them both that they're wrong. DEVIOUS' "Domain" should shut all three of them up.

- Cardona

OFFICIAL SITE: www.devious.nl

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