Deivos - Apophenia

Angry Metal Guy

Written by: Nameless_N00b_89

Deivos is probably not the band you think of first when it comes to the vibrant Polish death metal scene. Vader? Sure. Behemoth?? Of course! Decapitated?! Absolutely–Winds of Creation is one of the best death metal debuts on record. I was surprised, then, to discover that Deivos has also stalked the scene for over 25 years, starting in 1997–and that Apophenia is the band’s seventh album since debuting Emanation from Below in 2006. Deivos is not a stranger to AMG, however. The mighty and missed Kronos reviewed their 2015 release, Theodicy, with little to say about any positive aspect of the album. Amply warned, and with six previous efforts from which to draw comparisons, I dove into Deivos’ catalog to see if Apophenia signaled a sign of evolution.

Deivos plays a form of death metal rife with rote brutality, which might explain their tenured anonymity. Tomasz Kołcoń’s and Piotr Bajus’ combined guitar assault, which drinks from the fount of headless brethren Decapitated, provides the requisite palm-muted chugs, infernally speedy riffs, frenetic soloing and squeaky pinch harmonics to warrant Deivos’ genre tag. Hubert Banach’s brutally gruff growls channel his inner Corpsegrinder effectively, while Stadnicki’s bass lurks beneath, surfacing with Obscura-like, low-end melodicism. Both complement the capable drum work of Krzysztof Saran, who blasts, bashes, and crashes his way through the nine tracks. While Apophenia doesn’t push the envelope or test any boundaries, there are some interesting glimmers within.

Apophenia by Deivos

Deivos differentiate themselves by employing a sonic anomaly—the cowbell. No genre staple, this quirky bit of percussion features prominently on “Maelstrom of Decay” yet never disappears entirely, popping up here (“My Sacrifice”) and there (“Revelations,” “Persecutor”) throughout Apophenia. It’s an endearing aspect of the Deivos sound. The guitar work on opener “Feretory” sounds like an inverted take on Brodequin’s main riff from “Diabolical Edict” and makes for a compelling listen. At the same time, the bendy riff work, echoey solos, and background synths give “Sermon of Hypocrisy” a Morbid Angel feel. All things coalesce on the title track, “Apophenia,” with its sludgy, crunchy mid-section brutally bookended by pounding riffs, crushing drums, bestial vocals and two of the album’s better solos, which shred-fully shepherd the track through its pace changes.

If death metal was made of moist dough, Deivos would be the tool that cuts the cookies. Their career-encompassing aversion to adaptation and strict adherence to formula casts an “All-these-albums-sound-the-same” shadow on the catalog. Long-form songwriting is not where Deivos shines, but even when honing compositions within their three-to-five-minute wheelhouse, Deivos struggles to provide satisfying song arcs. Lackluster solos that feel tacked on (“My Sacrifice,” “De Materia Turpi”) or do nothing to move the song forward (“The Great Day of His Wrath”) further frustrate. Writing solid finishes is also something Deivos wrestles with. Tracks with abrupt endings conjure strong ‘this-seems-unresolved’ feelings (“Maelstrom of Decay,” “My Sacrifice”). At the same time, several tracks lean on the dreaded ambiently industrial outro to bring resolution (“De Materia Turpi,” “The Great Day of His Wrath,” “Persecutor”). These outros are my biggest nit to pick, not only because they take up two of the scant thirty-three minutes of the album but because they murder much of Apophenia’s momentum in the process.

Diehard Deivos fans may crown Apophenia as the band’s masterwork, and they might even be correct based on everything I’ve listened to. Deivos has certainly upped their game on Apophenia, even incorporating Lewandowski’s fantastic Angel of Death III painting as the cover art. Ironically, this decision aesthetically fits those pesky outros more than the band’s music, which still delivers a tight, brutally performed death metal package, rote as it may be. While I probably won’t return to it after I’m done here, I appreciated my time with Apophenia. I certainly enjoyed this more than Kronos did Theodicy. Two things I’d impart to Deivos: drop the superfluous industrial ambiance and, per the wise words of Christopher Walken, “I gotta have MOAR cowbell, baby!”

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Selfmadegod Records
Website: deivos.bandcamp.com|facebook.com/Deivos
Releases Worldwide: October 18, 2024

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