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A
crushing nailgun-like drum sound is the highlight of this album,
simultaneously mechanical and precise but holding the flair that shows off
drummer John Sankey’s talent. The style is supremely aggressive; a
bulldozer guitar sound with vile spitting death-style vocals creates an
extremely confronting listening space. Devolved are passionate about their
ideas, and their energy shows through every track. The
assault begins right from the start, ‘Distorted’ taking all of two
seconds before launching into a blast beat attack on the senses. From
there on the grind is unstoppable- the guitars, bass, drums and vocals
meshing so tightly to make a finely tuned tool of destruction. Extreme
metal tastes emerge in the constant blast beats, while groove factors also
emerge. Devolved also work in the occasional melodic segue, such as in
‘Progress’, which are more cold mood enhancing pieces instead of
exercises in musical beauty. Second last track ‘Functional Conflict’
is a sole instrumental, weaving dark and mysterious melody lines and then
predictably drawing straight into the final track which starts with one of
the heaviest passages of the album. ‘Technologies’ is a highly heavy
and aggressive album, albeit occasionally cliched, although excellent cuts
such as ‘Supremacy’ and ‘Fallen Cities’ are sure to carve out huge
fanbases for the band. Of
course, any journey into this form of industrial-metal-crossover will draw
the Fear Factory comparison. While their ‘Soul of a New Machine’ sound
may figure strongly in the proceedings, there are other and stronger
factors at play here. Meshuggah’s clinical technical approach makes its
presence known, and in their more death metal moments fellow Aussies
Deadspawn show to have an influence, especially in the short melodic
segues. The overall sound of ‘Technologies’ is the unfeeling and
mechanical one, mirroring the robotic concept of the album as well as of
the aforementioned bands. Devolved are yet to escape their influences but
have still managed to release an album of extraordinary strength. One can
tell there will be better things coming from them in the future yet. Score:
7.5 / 10 Veredicto
: 7,50 / 10 Contacts:
http://www.devolved.net
Kev
Truong
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Cold
and unrelenting, Devolved’s debut foray into cyber-metal has been
causing quite a few heads to jerk up in sudden interest and anticipation.
Hailing from Brisbane, Australia, Devolved combine elements of industrial,
death metal and the occasional groove factor to release a CD of stunning
professionalism that looks set to make a big name for these boys indeed. 
