This trio or semi permanent trio band lead by Lord Hastner have made a album which can touch listeners of black / death metal / ambient & experimental listeners on many levels. They have a cold and brooding sound which hails from the depths of the Ukraine. They have strong ties to Depressive Illusion Records and released this album at only 101 copies alone via Depressive and the release was also handled by Lord Hastner and his own label Kundalini Records. This is a 2012 release and probably still available so I suggest you get a copy now at Depressive while you still can at their website.
http://depressiveillusions.com/items/cd-r/black-metal-pagan-metal/deviator-fehu-fohat-fire
Like I was saying, this album reaches many different atmospheres and also strikes many levels of musicianship in the BM but of course with their own twist. The vocals range from spoken word, to harsh and raspy vocals. The album burns a fire in you and is injected with solid riffs. The vocals are also not just raspy but echoing and guttural in a sense. The drumming is pretty solid and sound, and not too far behind in the mix. The overall production of this album is great. It has the production and the substance. But does it have the energy and keep the listener intrigued? The song Cost Of Freedom does and treads on till it creates its own way into your mind with a deeper and subjective meaning between its archaic punishment through out its presence.
The next song is a just a little less interesting for me though. Way Of Warriors Hymn to Immortals. It has a great start and provides alot of heavy interesting moments through out its composition and melody. But I wished the clean vocal approach or spoken word was more sonically intriguing and less raw well not raw but it lacked a effect and is just straight talking to me and is not too strong here. It could have so much more range and oomph to it I think and stand out better like the darker vocals if it had some power put behind it or a effect with it, but at the same time still keeping it in its natural form but just a little more flashy. The spoken word is alright, but when I hear clean vocals or someone dares to mix them with a heavy song, I like if they stood out just as much as the heavier and darker vocals did. The song is long and has a very epic feel to it overall. But I can say I liked the last song a little better. It is also not in English but that is not a gripe just a fact.
This one up Eternity of Blood, provides a great opener on guitar and really is uplifting. It has some very nice drumming on this one. The stampeding quality of it is what I really dig about it. Live or Die! then a softer passage with further outstanding drum work involved. Excellent song so far. I am starting to like this one more then the 2nd one and 3rd one. It has alot more going on in it, and it may be shorter then Way Of Warriors but has just some more dimension and balance to it.
4:12 and on to the end, was wrapped up very well, I can listen just to that part 100x over myself. Very well done!
My Thoughts....They Have No Rest....sounds like me!!! And this song is a heavily key oriented build up of sorts with heavy guitars and drumming. Its is a Winter Depression cover but I never heard the song by the actual band so I can not point out the differences other then this cover is really fucking good. It is a cover from a fellow UKR band and has a outro like presence but then again if it had vocals it would have made it that more intense and interesting then what it already is. It may have just been a instrumental on the original bands album but it does have alot going on and again, the drums and the guitars sound amazing. This song is heavily in the keys, but not so heavy it comes off as a synth or a pure background noise, it is piano in its nature, and has lots of feelings and layers to it. All I can is that it really has alot going for it and is a superior cover.
Burning Bridges Become Ashes goes back to the chaos and really pounds itself out before the album closes itself up. This vocal assault from the start stands out pretty well and the stops and goes are great too. A great BM guitar tremolo picking is going on, the drums are tapping ever so gently then jump right into the muscle of the track itself with that hypnotizing guitar darkening and pushes the track even further into total devastation. The vocal approach remains the same, vocals are pretty guttural then they stop to a abrupt calming. The song goes back and forth between each instrument, and the guitar comes back with a stronger voice in the song then its past 2 riffs with a duel symphony. Wow! love the dueling here. Dueling guitars = SUCCESS in my book. Now back to the crunchy and building up, then a quick halt and stop. I really wish they did not end so abruptly like that, with the dueling guitars stopping into a riff riff crunch riff then a end. I think the dueling and then a fading out end would have been perfect but them the bricks. I really enjoyed this song too though.
After a 2nd listen of this album I can say this album is more of a EP then anything to me, but then again it is really their all so far last year but I am sure next year more Deviator is to come. I will end this review by saying I really enjoyed this release and kind send out of a copy to me from Lord Hastner, and it has been a pleasure listening to this album again since the day I got it. I must have had some things on my mind and I have been busy but nonetheless my review is here and I know it is not of short length but I wanted to touch on the details of all the songs and what to expect before someone bought it. It is worth a buy and is heavy through out. but as for the diversity, it was a album made with a lot of the efforts and right intentions but has the room for some improvements down the road.
SAMPLE: http://www.reverbnation.com/deviator
