The world will drown!
-- Layers of Devotion --
04/01/2022
Stijn Daneels
Album genres:
■ | Melodic death metal |
Album artists:
■ | Monica Janssen | Vocals |
■ | Michiel van der Plicht | Drums |
■ | Dominic Bellekom | Bass |
■ | Maarten Jungschläger | Guitars |
Review
written by Stijn "Metal Shredder" Daneels.
[METAL SHREDDER REPORTING]
Just before
the year ended we were contacted by Layers Of Devotion’s founding member Maarten
Jungschläger to check out his newly formed online band project and their single
debut “Flood Of Violence.” Always interesting to check out new bands with new
tunes, especially when I realized in what other bands the members play in.
[SHREDDING BASICS]
“Flood Of
Violence” is the first single from the Dutch metal band Layers Of Devotion
which was formed in 2021 and features members from established Dutch acts like
Downcast Collision, Embers of Oblivion, Carach Angren and Pestilence. The
single is released independently and is now available on all major streaming
platforms.
After a
opening of crunchy bass and banging drums the melodic guitar comes in and then
clean, echoing vocals. Then the vocals suddenly get rasher and the riffs intensify
as well. The song then continues with catchy, multi-vocal styled choruses, blast
beats and of course soaring high guitar solos until all fades to silence.
The song clocks
in at a solid 3:46 minutes but does feel shorter than it actually is thanks to its
variety. Both clean and grunt vocals (the parts wherein both styles sing in
duet is particularly effective), multiple guitar solos and versatile riffs, powerful
emphasis on bass and drum beats that go from slow and rhythmic to fast and
relentless. The whole package reminds me of Spoil Engine (albeit at a slower pace)
but also of the bands from which the members come, particularly Embers Of
Oblivion and Downcast Collision. So if you’re a fan of any of these three aforementioned
bands than I can confidently say that you’ll like Layers Of Devotion as well. I’m
curious to hear what else they’ll have in store for us but I do think that they
can make their new tunes even tighter in terms of songwriting and even more
intense in terms of instrumentation. But there already is a really solid
foundation here.
[SHREDDING VISION]
This “Flood
Of Violence” single has an apocalyptic theme. The song depicts a world torn
apart by violence, represented by endless rain furiously falling down to the Earth
and eventually flooding every inch of it. The song, however, also has a certain
confidence to it which I believe to be the band sensing that after this current
world has drowned, a new and better world may grow out of it. And therefore
they encourage the rain to fall down even harder to make the world drown
faster.
[SHREDDER’S SCORECARD]
8 drowned Earths
out of 10. Layers of Devotion's debut single is an engaging and multi-faceted melodic death metal tune that, given
the band members earlier band experiences, shouldn’t come as a surprise at all.
Recommended if you enjoy acts like Arch Enemy, Children of Bodom or our country’s
Spoil Engine.