Devangelic – Xul
Release Date: 7th April 2023
Label: Willowtip Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Nile, Hour of Penance, Behemoth.
Review By: Eric Wilt
I think we all can agree that there aren’t enough bands with a heavy Nile influence out there these days. Devangelic is here to change that. I originally passed on this album simply because I hate it when bands combine two real words to create a new unreal word for their band name, but I went back and checked them out, and I’m glad I did. Devangelic is a portmanteau made by combining the words devastation and angelic. While I’m not a huge fan of their name, I am a huge fan of their devastating death metal.
Starting with their third full length, and their first for Willowtip, Devangelic began focusing lyrically on Sumerian mythology. Like Nile, who focuses on Egyptian history and mythology, Devangelic creates songs that incorporate middle eastern sounding scales and modes as well as ancient Mesopotamian instruments (see Famine of Nineveh which is an instrumental recorded using traditional instruments that could be found in ancient Sumeria). This combination of the old and the new works as well for Devangelic as it does for Nile, and considering they are focusing on similar areas and time periods, you can definitely hear a Nile influence on Devangelic’s music.
Songs like Scribes of Xul, Which Shall be the Darkness of the Heretic, and Ignominious Flesh Degradation are straight-ahead ragers that give drummer, Marco Coghe, ample time to show off his blasting technique. While Udug-Hul Incantation and Sirius Draconis Capricornus are more slowed down, grooving tracks that let bassist Alessio Pacifici time to shine. Worship of the Black Flames has an acoustic break that is reminiscent of the beginning of songs like Unas Slayer of the Gods, while Hymn of Savage Cannibalism joins Famine of Nineveh as another interlude that uses classical guitars and traditional-sounding middle eastern instruments.
As far as vocals go, Paolo Chiti has a deep growl that he uses for almost all of his parts. His is a very effective voice, and while some people may appreciate a more varied delivery that doesn’t focus on one style of vocal, I personally think that Chiti’s vocals fit the songs perfectly.
The one thing that would boost this album even higher in my opinion would be some shredding when it comes to guitar solos. While guitarist Mario Di Giambattista lays down plenty of sick rhythms and some very atmospheric solos, he never lets himself go when it’s time for a guitar lead. I’m guessing that this is a holdover from their days as a brutal death metal band, a subgenre which sees fewer solos than most other styles of death metal, but the songs, which are already great, would’ve been even better had Devangelic added some fretboard pyrotechnics.
While it is true that Devangelic are playing on Nile’s ballfield, Xul never feels like it is devolving into mere imitation. The musicians in Devangelic are seriously talented, as they show throughout, and their music is brutal, technical, full of intense blasting, precise riffing, and quality song writing, and absolutely stands on its own.
(4 / 5)
