UMUR
"Casus Belli" is the sixth full-length studio album by Polish death metal act Deivos. The album was released through Selfmadegod Records in November 2019. It´s the successor to "Endemic Divine" from 2017 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Jakub "Diego" Tokaj has been replaced by Mścisław (real name Piotr Bajus). The latter was previously a member of Deivos from 2004-2016, and therefore makes a return here.
Stylistically "Casus Belli" is a natural successor to both "Theodicy" (2015) and "Endemic Divine" (2017), as it features a similar style and also a relatively similar sounding production. It could be argued that Deivos are repeating themselves, but I´d like to describe it as the band have locked into a stylistic groove which works really well for them. Why fix it, if it ain´t broken...?
"Casus Belli" features 8 tracks of crushingly brutal and technically well played death metal. While it´s certainly brutal music, Deivos are more sophisticated and adventurous in their songwriting approach than many other contemporary artists playing brutal technical death metal. The riffs are quite intricate (as are the many well played solos) and the drumming by Krzysztof Saran is nothing short of amazing (tempo changes, breaks, and loads of creative drumming ideas). The way he incorporates cowbell in the most natural way to the core death metal sound of Deivos is a touch of brilliance. The vocals are relatively intelligible growling (often layered), and while lead vocalist Angelfuck (yup... that´s actually his artist name) gets the job done, his contributions are slightly one-dimensional, and certainly the least remarkable part of "Casus Belli".
The album features a sharp, detailed, and powerful sounding production, which perfectly suits the material. So upon conclusion "Casus Belli" is another high quality death metal release from Deivos. Hopefully one day they will be counted among the greatest Polish death metal acts (along with artists like Behemoth, Vader, and Hate), because the quality of their releases warrants an inclusion to that exclusive club. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.