UMUR
"Endemic Divine" is the fifth full-length studio album by Polish death metal act Deivos. The album was released through Selfmadegod Records in February 2017. It´s the successor to "Theodicy" from 2015, which was an album dividing the waters a bit. Deivos tried a slightly different approach to their brand of technical death metal and the end result was slightly less pummeling and brutal than the sound on their early releases, and a little more sophisticated and dare I say (semi) progressive...
...that approach is continued on "Endemic Divine", which in many ways is a sibling release to "Theodicy (2015)" in terms of songwriting style, production values, and performances. Deivos are an incredibly well playing and skilled unit, but while there are no end to sharp precision playing, breaks, and tempo changes, Deivos still manage to add an organic touch to their music. It´s in no small part due to the drumming of Krzysztof Saran, who is an otherworldly musician. His playing is creative (notice the use of cowbells), delivers powerful beats, and always drives the music forward. The riffs on the album deserve a special mention too. Brutal, sharp, rhythmic, and often quite catchy although they are also often a bit unusual for the style. The vocals are growling and they are often layered/doubled by another extreme vocal, which to my ears is a bit of a shame. The vocals would have stood out more on the album, if they had not been layered. The layering gives them a watered down feeling.
While the musicianship is arguably on a high level in most departments, it wouldn´t have mattered if the songwriting didn´t follow suit, but that´s not a problem on "Endemic Divine". There are several strong compositions on the 8 track, 32:19 minutes long album, which closes with the excellent 7:50 minutes long title track. Add to that a powerful and detailed sound production, and the end result is a high quality death metal release. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.