NOCTURNAL DEVOTION is a five piece band from Slovakia that has been around since 1999. Their original vocalist "G" came from Scotland and was more of a rock singer, so in the beginning he used to be responsible for the melodic vocal parts while guitarist Mato took care of the brutal growling. After a couple of shows with "G" the band decided to part ways with him. Mato became the frontman, bassplayer Raso switched over to guitar and Julo was recruited as the band’s new bassplayer. In the summer of 2004 NOCTURNAL DEVOTION finally started recording material that FLESHLESS vocalist Vladimir Prokos decided to release on his young label Nice To Eat You Records. The album got entitled "Virus…" and features seven tracks as well as a short intro. Due to their line-up changes the guys obviously have evolved into a heavier, more brutal direction nowadays, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that this album is essential in any way. Even though the members of the band are far from being bad at their instruments, the songwriting is still very average and bores me pretty quickly already. I hate to say this, but "Virus…" is one of those countless typical Death / Thrash Metal records that got released by young bands way too early. Instead of coming up with some demos first and then, based on them, trying to build up a fanbase in the underground by playing lots of shows and doing self-promotion through the fanzine and tapetrading network, NOCTURNAL DEVOTION did the same mistake that lots of others these days do. They are impatient, release an album right away, even though nobody knows, nor cares about them yet and hope to succeed nevertheless… But that won’t happen, I’m sorry! This is just another record that is destined to fail completely! In our difficult economical time, I seriously doubt that there’s really lots of people out there willing (or able) to spend money on a rather half-assed product nowadays, which furthermore not even has a favorable sleeve design. Sad, but true. Label contact: www.ntey.wz.cz