A review about DEVIAN’s second strike will be more than difficult if you try to avoid the nomination of their ‘former’ band MARDUK. The band received a lot of medial attention due to their founding members Legion and Emil but musically “God To The Illfated” is without a doubt worth to be mentioned here. The band toured intensively since the release of their debut to establish their own live legacy far away from the Swedish big brother. DEVIAN are adding some Heavy Metal structures to their Death / Black style and especially the Metal solos (‘Assailant’) and the clean vocals (‘Saintbleeder’) are the essence which is giving their mixture some further energy / layer. But the album needs some time and at least several rounds until the train is really starting to move due to its very compact sound (Abyss studio mix). But when the train has reached its working speed it’s a great journey through the valleys of death and when DEVIAN are leaving the high speed area (in which they sound like MARDUK during their “World Funeral” era) they emphasize passion instead of aggression and the album is raising up to its highest peak. DEVIAN can offer more than two MARDUK ex members and to close this review with some stolen lyrics- Jesus will for sure weep during listening to “God To The Illfated”. A good release which will find fans in all extreme Metal sections due to its various influences. For further info see www.devian.se, www.centurymedia.com