I never once thought I’d see a death metal band from Spain or at least know they have a diverse metal scene but Devotion are one of those bands that seem to grabbed my immediate attention. Little I know, they’ve been around in the underground since 2013 and in 2016 they’ve released their debut full-length titled Necrophiliac Cults but this time in 2021, The Harrowing is the sophomore effort and is released through Memento Mori. Musically, they created a punishing, assaulted and relentless style of death metal filled with chaos, destructive instrumentals and a sound that’s so dense, sharp and crystal clear I don’t see why anyone is talking about this project as everyone needs to witness this release front to back.
Lyrically, atmospherically, musically and symbolically speaking, this band has a huge broaden of influences anywhere from Hate, Dead Congregation, Pungent Stench and Convulsion featuring a filthy, unadulterated, commandant, unpredictable and sewer- reeking approach for death metal as most of the songs utilizes a otherworldly atmosphere, some atmospheric interludes, visceral vocals, and timeless death metal music reminding me of the mid to late 90’s era of the genre. But for this album it feels darker, cohesive, haunting and uncompromising due to the songs representing a rotting atmosphere that’ll bring you that HM2 Swedish death metal influence but also containing that traditional, death doom signature sound that not only stays its welcome but for Devotion creating a ungodly, venomous and memorabilia record for the death metal genre has really caught me by surprise.
Just hearing these songs like Valley Of Death, Demon Sleep, Birth Of Horror, Depravity and Feast of Esdras makes the music much more aggressive these Spaniards created naturalistic signatures with beautiful arrangements which in my opinion makes the variations a much more enjoyable experience. The Harrowing is a subterranean assault bringing out the band’s heaviest, constructed and polished releases the band has done to date.
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Review by Jake Butler
