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Devouring Star – The Arteries of Heresy

Published:

Last Updated on 11:09 AM by Giorgos Tsekas

Genre: Black Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Dark Descent Records
Year: 2018

Devouring Star were part of two splits released this August alone, one collaboration with Caecus and a six-way split with very strong entities in the underground scene named “Ekstrophë”, already in my list of such kind of releases for 2018. It is a project that I have been following since their first demo in 2013, and there have been various ups and downs around their material, while always maintaining a certain framework. I wouldn’t hesitate to call them orthodox black metal, yet the concept behind each work is of immense importance and effect on the final musical outcome, not to mention the bold take on religion, chaos and satanism that they elaborate on in their lyrics.

The new record already links the nature of the human body with everlasting sin and offers a kick ass title like “The Arteries of Heresy”, underlying the message of how our species has always been connected to it. It last only thirty five minutes and flows better than the debut for me, even though there different stories told each time.

While Devouring Star are Finnish, they are a case of an artist that is widely uninfluenced by the style of the country’s black metal scene, more like it happens from time to time with bands (I would think of Spectral Lore & Greece, as well as Blutaus Nord & France as similar examples), which makes them sound nothing like compatriots, I would say. “The Arteries of Heresy” possesses a pompous and clear production, mainly moves on slow / middle paced, crippling riffs, scourging vocals and is built on really dim and at times, almost meditative atmosphere.

One the one hand, a compositional idea doesn’t stand out as impressive somewhere in the album, what is really worth noting is how coherent the whole piece is and how well the tracks are positioned to give out the final result. The slower parts are well combined with the more intense moments, like in “Sin Assimilation”, while the temperament of the whole record doesn’t follow a norm compared to today’s different subgenres of black metal, even though it doesn’t step too far away from its boundaries either.

All tracks are solid and no second feels unnecessary, something that looks simple but is a scourging problem in metal albums today. A product of a clear vision of the artist’s intent, feeling like “The Arteries of Heresy” starts getting really good, once it makes sense.

I would suggest this as an example of an honest band that might not surprise you musically, but will win you over by its inspired and well written work, as well as its integrity. I had seen good signs by Devouring Star since last year with their more than solid EP “Antihedron”, which was the first step to change my initial impression of them, and now I can say that they are a band I prefer to listen among many try-hards in this kind of black metal.

4/6

VJ
VJ
The gate of the cavern is despair, and its floor is paved with the gravestones of abandoned hopes. There Self must die; there the eagerness, the greed of untamed desire must be slain, for only so can the soul be freed from the empire of Fate.

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