Devil Within - Dark Supremacy (Review)

Supergroup is always a controversial point for critic. On the one side, these guys already know what to do and how. On the other side, they can fall into the “trap of success” - this happens when a creative project uses a certain model (consisting of a composer, producer and stylist's work) and, seeing its popularity, don't change the overall concept (and sometimes don't change anything) .

My Rating: 72/100 Best song: Born From Tears

I started this idea because all members had already gained fame in other projects. The project involves vocalist from MergingMoon, guitarist and drummer from UNDEAD CORPORATION, guitarist from THOUSAND EYES and bassist from HELLHOUND. These are very serious guys who are not on their first year on the stage. Therefore, the expectations of them will be very high. However, if we talk only about the result of the work, then everything is not so simple.

Here you can hear patterns typical of melodic death metal with a little hardcore influence. Compositions's structures are rather complex - I am inclined to see a positive point in this. However, the diversity is somewhat strange. That is, here you can hear something tough and something melodious, and even there is one song with a piano. But all the time you hear something familiar, as if the yard is now the end of the 90s - beginning of 00s. Nevertheless, it can be said that the composer did his best: compositions are surprisingly easy to fall on the listener's ears.

Vocalist also performs well. Here is a very strong voice. So strong that I even began to think about the strong handling of some parts of the range. Yes, the voice is good. However, the variety of vocal techniques is rather weak.

Instrumental parts - there situation is twofold. On the one side, instrumental parts are very complex. On the other side, all the time tormented by the feeling of deja vu, because of which the album really can't hear. The sound of instruments can be described like this: Imagine that the composer listened to such albums by In Flames as Colony, Clayman and Reroute to Remain for a long time and then took the heaviest riffs from there and made something of their own. Seriously, here you can find similarities with songs Embody The Invisible, Colony, Pinball Map, System, Dismiss The Cynics, Watch Them Feed. Do we need to talk about how the guitars sound in this album? I think this is superfluous. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that guitarists have a fairly high level of skill. However, one thing is not entirely clear - the difference between the lead guitar and the rhythm guitar is very blurred. It’s not quite clear why this was done this way, because you can simply record one guitar with a quad track. Also noteworthy is a very intense rhythm section. This can be completed, since all this has already been heard, and, far from once.

These guys give the listener exactly what they want to hear. This is a good idea: to combine technical complexity and attractiveness for the listener. However, in the pursuit of common patterns (even if they are significantly complicated), an album came out that flies past: the album’s memories end with the last track. That is, the album itself is good, but no aftertaste. It's like, instead of a full meal, just to eat bread - you will be full, but will there be full-fledged pleasure from it? I hope this question will not remain without answer.