Review: Devenial Verdict – Ash Blind

Style: Dissonant Death Metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Ulcerate, Gorguts
Review by: Cooper
Country: Finland
Release date: 28 October, 2022

After I heard the title track and leading single of Ash Blind, released all the way back in April, Devenial Verdict’s full-length debut quickly cemented itself as one of my most anticipated releases of 2022. “Ash Blind” was the platonic ideal of a dissonant death metal track with its evocative atmosphere incessantly torn and reshaped by ever-confounding riffs, and with its spastic torrent of drums that forged a path for even more spastic and mind-bending guitar solos. Simply put, the track was amazing, and I definitely spun it a few too many times in the week after its release. Still, I was ready for more Devenial Verdict. So for three months I waited with eager ears, only rarely listening to “Ash Blind” to remind me of its grandeur. 

In July, Devenial Verdict released “Pravum” and defied my expectations. By every metric “Pravum” was a better track than “Ash Blind”. The riffs were heavier. The drums were faster. The bass was gnarlier (that’s a technical term). “Pravum” exuded a sense of tension that held me in a vice grip until its very end. As I sat in shock and glee after my first listen, I made a choice. I would not spoil “Pravum” in the same way I did “Ash Blind”. So for three more months and thirteen days I abstained entirely from Devenial Verdict, patiently waiting. Ash Blind released on October 28, and the wait was more than worth it.

From the foreboding ambience that begins “Hope”, the album’s opener, to the distortion infested climax of “World Breaker”, the album’s closer, Devenial Verdict make one thing incredibly clear. They know how to write tracks that flow. Whether it’s the syncopated unison guitar and drum attacks in “Sun Hammer” that bridge the gaps between the track’s disparate riffing styles or the drop to a lurching half-time feel in “The Contemptor” that is sure to rile up any mosh pit, Ash Blind is full of countless songwriting choices that allude to the talent of the men behind this album. Each moment flows into the next in often such unexpected ways that I couldn’t help but be pulled along by my intrigue as I listened.

The sense of flow even extends beyond the tracks individually and into the album as a whole. For instance, there are transitions between tracks that are just apparent enough to lend a sense of cohesiveness to the album without making the beginnings and ends of tracks feel out of place, a common pitfall when adding transitions. Also, if a track ends in a particularly heavy manner, the following track will almost surely begin with clean and subtle atmospherics, making the riffage that follows that much heavier by comparison. Hell, “Mourning Star” is an entire song of clean and subtle atmospherics placed between the two heaviest tracks on the album. Those tracks probably wouldn’t feel as heavy without “Mourning Star” as juxtaposition.

Even with songs as amazing as “Pravum” and “Sun Hammer”, my favorite track off of Ash Blind is undoubtedly the finale, “World Breaker”. Every moment of this song is taut with energy, each tremolo riff rippling like thunder across the sky and each strike of a chord like lightning shattering the earth beneath it. The track embodies its title, and for seven minutes and forty-seven seconds, it is as though the world is breaking. I could ramble on endlessly about all the things that Devenial Verdict does well on Ash Blind, but I believe I’ve made my point clear. This is an album more than deserving of your attention.

I often think about what the perfect death metal album would even sound like, and just as often, I fail to come to any conclusion. Through Ash Blind, though, Devenial Verdict has come closer than most to what I think that ever-elusive perfect album may actually sound like – and on their debut album no less! As such, I will be patiently waiting, as it seems I always have, for Devenial Verdict to give me more.

Recommended tracks: Sun Hammer, The Contemptor, World Breaker
You may also like: Replicant, Light Dweller, Deathbringer
Final verdict: 9/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Transcending Obscurity Records – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook

Devenial Verdict is:
– Riku Saressalo (vocals)
– Sebastian Frigren (guitars)
– Antti Poutanen (bass)
– Okko Tolvanen (drums)