Devangelic – Phlegethon (Comatose Music)

Sunday, 24th September 2017
Rating: 7/10

In search of something brutal? Need something that will erase all the pain and agony of your day with sheer visceral carnage? Well, Devangelic are certainly in the market to help you out. The band’s second full-length (following 2014’s Resurrection Denied) brings you the same level of viciousness as genre stalwarts Disgorge. And though it may not check the ‘originality’ button, it’s quite well done for the sound.

One goes into a brutal death metal album with a certain mindset. It’s not going to have a lot of melody, it’s not going to be overtly technical, but it is going to be damned relentless. Phlegethon is the type of album that will take your breath away with brutality. There’s barely a moment when things really stop (the atmospheric “Wretched Incantations” is about all you’ll get – a short eerie piece with some low gurgling). But while there’s no real ‘melody’ per say, the band does make up for it with moments of groovier riffing. Nothing that approaches slam here, but solid mid-tempo chugs (a la NYDM) that will definitely get one in the mood for headbanging. Faster segments rely on somewhat more intricate rhythms with the sole task of bludgeoning the listener (again harkening back to things like Suffocation or Immolation – even some pitch squealing at times). But even though it may lack for innovation, one is hard-pressed to sit through this one without the blood being to pump a little harder through the arteries.

Genre confines aside, those who crave the most snarling and brutal death metal will find nothing to fault Phlegethon for. It’s totally focused in its one resolve…you want complete savagery? You’ve got it with this one.

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