Many of my reviews have started with the remark that there is more to the Greek Black Metal scene than your standard Rotting Christ, Varathron and SepticFlesh. Which, by no means is to discard those icons of that Hellenic scene, but when you dig a little deeper there is more to discover. In recent times there are bands like Cult Of Eibon, Ithaqua and Caedes Cruenta, but back in those heydays of Greek Black Metal there were also quite a number of interesting bands that not managed to reach eager ear. Among them are bands like Horrified, Kawir, Zemial, Disharmony and Deviser.
The latter recently released their fifth album through Hammerheart Records and, to start off with a veiled conclusion, it harkens back to their own heydays from the mid 90’s. Although the term ‘heydays’ in Deviser’s case is a bit hard to plot because the band hardly ever got any recognition beyond the real Greek metal connoisseurs and underground enthusiasts. But, regardless, their debut album ‘Unspeakable Cults’ (1996, Mascot Records) can be considered a great first record. But it was not all too long lived for Deviser. Though the sophomore album, ‘Transmission To Chaos’ is almost equally as compelling, the two albums that the band released afterwards are pretty substandard compared to their earlier albums.
‘Evil Summons Evil’, their 2023 album, or comeback album if you will, offers some of the band’s best material to date. While the band was a bit of the odd one out in that sweltering Greek metal scene of the 90’s, their sound was distinctly different from that of the leading bands. Still, very much recognizably Greek, they opted for an almost Death Metal oriented approach that even had some chugging Thrash-like riffs. Yet, the atmosphere and subcutaneous subterranean melodies also found their way to Deviser’s music. All that combined can again be found on ‘Evil Summons Evil’.
Most striking is the massive sound the album has. Not nearly as raw and unpolished as the bands great first two albums, but while the almost bombastic production boosts the symphonic parts of the album, it does not go to the expense of the impact of the guitars. That reminds that Deviser always had the most in common with SepticFlesh and that still is very the case. Both bands roughly went through a similar development, musically. Raw and unpolished at first, but now deeply melodic, bombastic and grand in their majestic beauty, boosting a wide variety of different vocals, ranging all the way from a more standard Black Metal kind of vocal delivery to something almost grunt like and epic screaming.
The almost cinematic splendour of the instrumental interlude ‘Tenebrae’ goes hand in hand with the more Melodic Black Metal that is interwoven in every song and due to the Mediterranean feeling reminds a lot of Varathron’s ‘Patriarchs Of Evil’ or the better Rotting Christ work of the early 00’s. Simply put, ‘Evil Summons Evil’ propels Deviser back to where they rightfully belong, back at their post in the Greek Black Metal scene and no matter whether they were recognized enough back in those early days, I am sure they have the means to set that very record straight now.
Hammerheart Records
- Country: Netherlands
- Style: Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Thrash Metal, Other
- Links: Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Youtube