Style: heavy metal, progressive metal, …other stuff (clean vocals)
Review by: Sam
Recommended for fans of: Iron Maiden, Rise Against, Between the Buried and Me
Country: California, United States
Release date: 17 March 2018
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the 2018 missed albums issue of The Progressive Subway.]
This band is strange. I was expecting some modern prog metal, something like Haken or Caligula’s Horse you’d find on the sub, but instead what I was greeted with when I started playing this was… Iron Maiden. Quite literally. Sure it was mentioned in their influences, but the harmonies in the opening minute are so close to the Brits it’s basically worship. And then it gets even weirder when the vocals come in, which with their punky alt rock vibe make you wonder if you’re not listening to Rise Against instead. It continues on this Maiden/Rise Against combination for the first three minutes or so, and then it suddenly changes to a post-metal crescendo (with buildup) for the final three minutes. I was left perplexed just where on earth that came from as it’s done with such skill and grandeur it’s easily one of the best things I’ve heard all year. I’m not sure about if it really makes sense with the rest of the song, but that part alone makes this record worth listening to.
Unfortunately, the height reached in the first song is never met again on the record. It mostly follows the Maiden/Rise Against template, but to make it even weirder from here on there’s also hints of, well… Between the Buried and Me. Yeah you heard that right. From the second track on this band can basically be written by the equation of Divine Intervention = ⅓ * (Iron Maiden + Rise Against + BTBAM). Just listen to the build in Liminal. That shit sounds like it came straight from Colors. And that’s also my problem with this band. The songs are very enjoyable in themselves, but it’s just literally the sum of its parts. One moment it’s Maiden, Rise Against is present all the time in the vocals, and the prog is just literally BTBAM. Oh and I forgot to mention there’s also Mastodon worship in the third track.
So on the whole I definitely enjoyed this EP, but this band definitely needs some more identity of its own. For now it’s just worship of their favorite bands. Good worship, but worship nonetheless.
Recommended tracks: By Your Decree
You may also like: yeah idk about this one
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook
Label: Independent
Divine Intervention is:
– Joe Lush (vocals)
– James Henderson (guitars)
– Emil Rudzki (drums)
– Sam Richardson (bass)
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