Devastator were founded in 2017, and while the four guys don’t look old enough to have been headbangers in the 1980’s, they seem to have access to a working record player and a few crates full of old school rock and metal LPs. Their debut full length Baptised In Blasphemy is out July 2020 and promises 25 minutes of satan worshipping, punk infused blackened thrash metal.
The record starts off with Howling Night, an up-beat anthem parts Venom, parts Motörhead and all attitude. The riffs are cool, the punchy drums and gnarly bass groove, and the voice is in your face aggression and invites you to shout along to the catchy chorus. They even throw in a guitar solo for good measure. A very solid start, that is followed by Worship the Goat, which leaves the paths of rock’n’roll and leans more towards frantic thrash metal riffing. Track number three, Hail Death, goes one step further and has more traditional, pure black metal elements, while sticking with the punk attitude that is present throughout the record.
Devastator manage to mix up the basic inredients of punk, black and thrash well enough to never become boring and be one of those bands that only has one type of riff. On the second to last track, Spiritual Warfare, they even venture a bit into epic territory, with an extremely well done bridge that leads into a well placed outro solo. They also manage to consistently include infective choruses into their songs, that probably invite one or the other beer-induced sing-along during live performances.
Unfortunately the record is already over after 25 minutes, which even for this genre feels a bit lacking. On the plus side this means that it does not really have any songs that feel like filler. The production is well balanced and feels very old school, which fits the style of the band perfectly. I especially enjoy the vocals, which are very present and in your face, and the band utilizes backing vocals / group shouts very efficiently, just when the songwriting practically demands it. Overall, this is a very mature release for such a young band, I just wish there was more of it.
Blackened thrash / speed metal seems to be a quite popular genre at the moment, if the growing population of this particular shelf is any indication, and Devastator do not have to hide from the competition. If bands like Hellripper, Wraith or Toxic Holocaust are your thing, you should definitely check out Baptised In Blasphemy. If not, any of the songs from this record will still fit neatly into a playlist that is played while drinking or driving – just don’t mix the two.
I thorougly enjoyed the record and am looking forward to future releases or appearances on metal festivals as soon as those are happening again.
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Born in ’88, living in Austria. I play guitar in various Blues / Rock / Metal projects and do my own amateurish music recording & production.
