Third album from this Belgian band that is playing a nice form of Deathrash, which can be related to bands as diverse as MALEVOLENT CREATION, AMON AMARTH and few touches of early IN FLAMES, just to give you a hint. This comes also with a very heavy and crunchy guitar sound, a great performance by the band members (some of them used to play or still play in ALTAR the long running Death Metal band) and so, the maturity of the band can be heard in precise compositions and the way they play. Although I would say that fast is a good way to describe the band, they are also found themselves comfortable playing mid-tempo, the word that describes better their music is intense. At times I can hear some later PESTILENCE touches, and to say they have a bit of a technical edge will not be a mistake. The melodic solos are also present, yet still keeping the right amount of aggression not to sound out of the music. So, is this a good release? Well, it has good things, but in the end it just does not have that power to stand out from the rest I am afraid. The vocals are the same most of the time, and by the end of the record they just tend to make the music sound similar. Still I appreciate they didn`t went for the more ultra-low death growl, but also at times they sound dangerously close to have a PANTERA-esque touch… much like the last ALTAR recordings, which is not exactly a surprise. Also, some riffs tend too much to go on the safe way, making the listener trying to figure out where else that riff has been heard. Although I appreciate better a band that copies another in a blatant way but does with mastery and a personal touch, I also think that trying to be original for the sake of it, is not exactly wise, and usually the final result are not that good. DEVIOUS seems to have that clear, so in a way songs like ‘Impulse Overload’ have at the same some very good parts as well as some other less memorable which takes away power. And it seems that this is the way they do it through the whole album. Also, sometimes the way they go from mid-tempo to grinding speed and back, sound a bit forced. The final result sounds to me like a band that wants the listener to know what bands they are influenced by, but tries to give a personal style by giving some weird breaks and speed changes; a band that tries to sound technical, yet at the same time, tries to sound straightforward. This duality is the thing that takes away the power this band might be able to deliver. As it is, this is an average release which has some good things on it, but at the end of the day won’t really make a lasting impact. It seems they don’t know but they can resurrect the spirit of a band like PHLEBOTOMIZED did in the debut album. When they decide to keep things in a more straight way, have a bit more of variety on the vocals, and they decide to really dig those epic feeling riffs they use in some songs like in the opener ‘Heritage Of The Reckless’, they will finally unleash the fury beast they hide. www.myspace.com/deviousdomain, http://deitydownrecords.com