
A truth for a truth, an eye for an eye
-- Layers of Devotion --
08/02/2023
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]
About a
year ago Layers Of Devotion’s founding member Maarten introduced me to his newly
formed band and invited me to check out their debut single “Flood Of Violence”
which I promptly did and genuinely enjoyed (read me review of that single here:
https://www.belgianmetalshredder.be/reviews/338).
Now Maarten
has called me up again to check out “From Forge To Fire,” Layers Of Devotion’s
second single, not only Maarten but also our longtime friends over at Hard Life
Promotion offered us to check out this single. So that further enticed my
curiosity to see how Layers Of Devotion had evolved these past twelve months.
[SHREDDING BASICS]
“From Forge
To Fire” is the second single from the Dutch melodic death metal band Layers Of
Devotion and is once again an independent release.
The song immediately
kicks off with an energetic guitar solo that’s unusually lengthy for an opening
solo but it does get the song into high gear. Then the grunts guide us through
the song’s first verse, accompanied by blast beasts and ending with a short,
clean/grunt duet. Then the clean vocals take over to deliver the chorus until
the grunts and blasts return to the next verse. After that verse and a second chorus
the song gets slow and heavy with vicious yelling and shrieking before a second
guitar solo elevates the pressure. Then comes a third verse (identical in
structure to the earlier two) and one final chorus before the song signs off.
One thing
that I instantly noticed when comparing “From Forge To Fire” to the earlier
single “Flood Of Violence” is the improved production quality. While not a huge
difference, I did feel “From Forge To Fire” to sound a bit clearer and crisper.
Also the song has a slightly shorter runtime and gets going a lot quicker.
For me, I
begin to see Layers Of Devotion as a band that benefits from past-paced
riffing, upbeat guitar solos and a balance between clean vocals and death metal
grunts and although I think the band can still get their sound a little bit tighter,
they’re showing positive evolution with this new single.

[SHREDDING VISION]
The artwork
for this “From Forge To Fire” single features a hellish landscape of blackened
mountains spitting lava, blood-red clouds and a huge winged demon flying around.
The whole scenery reminds me of the realm of Mordor and the winged creature makes
me think of the Witch King flying on the back of his fellbeast.
Thematically,
Layers Of Devotion’s new single once again deals with apocalyptic topics. This time
the band wonders whether humanity’s “eye for an eye” mentality does more harm
than good. Maybe the hell, fire and brimstone imagery on the single’s cover art
is how the earth would end up looking like according to Layers Of Devotion if we
don’t start putting aside our egos and work towards a goal that’s bigger than ourselves.
The greater good.
[SHREDDER’S SCORECARD]
8 truths out
of 10. A better produced and better written new single that showcases Layers Of
Devotion’s musical strengths even more than their already enjoyable debut
single. In one year’s time, Layers Of Devotion further expanded their arsenal
of multiple guitar solos and flexible vocal ranges to bring us some very nice
melodic death metal.