Review: Hideous Divinity – Adveniens
Technical death metal hasn’t been a genre that I’ve highly sought out in a few years. Though Spear does a spectacular job giving us a weekly slice of tech death (on the best day: Thursday), the music has to be a little weird for me to really fall in love (discovering Portal was the beginning of the end for me). So it stands to reason that I have been in search of a band to pull me back into the genre, a band who embodies all the elements I dig about it; to that end, Hideous Divinity has hooked me back in and done a stellar job with their sophomore album Adveniens.
I enjoy discussing music genres, so here is where I tell you that I wouldn’t exactly label them technical death metal in the purest form. Although Enrico Schettino and Giovanni Tomassucci are hecking phenomenal guitar players, I never felt as if they were trying to push the boundaries of fancy riffery for the sake of showing off. Extreme death metal riffs are played with skill and ferocity, similar to heavy hitters like Nile and Hour of Penance, and they come in endless supply on Adveniens. It begins with “Ages Die,” which is quite intense and varied in its 6:46 runtime:
This incredible song might give you the impression that it’s the exception, but no, dear friend, it turns out to be the rule. There are nine tracks of epic brutality and intensity, of which not a single one feels like filler or a b-side that should have been left out of the final product. You also won’t hear any ballads or lengthy interludes, just one consistent thrill-ride from the moment it begins… which might sound exhausting, but creative songwriting always keeps it interesting. Though it can be typical of bands from this particular genre to have interchangeable songs, the Italian masterminds in Hideous Divinity find a way to give each one its own identity with riffs that organically evolve into the next, and tasteful yet maniacal guitar solos that give the perfect amount of flair (see track two “Sub Specie Aeternitatis” for a solo-of-the-week contender).
(These gentlemen can write a god-damned death metal song, friends)
Great guitar work – check. For drums, prepare yourself for a lot of double bass work. Giulio Galati is one busy drummer, and I LOVE it. You are not spared but a few small breaks (the occasional short intro or outro) in the blastbeat dpeartment here, and that consistency only adds to the abrasiveness of the whole album. It is just ridiculous and 100% fitting. On the low end we have Stefano Franceschini with bass guitar work that sounds wonderful, and if I knew more about that instrument I would have better words with which to praise it, so I’ll just tell you that the production is top-notch. Vocals are straight-up death metal, Enrico “H.” Di Lorenzo ain’t doing any clean vocals or anything goofy like that, it’s all glorious gutterals and growls. They’re passionately delivered and occasionally catchy in a tasteful sort of way (“Sub Specie Aeternitatis” is a prime example).
Adveniens is bat-shit crazy in its unrelentingness (that’s a word). The songs are rather long but never drag on for a moment longer than necessary. It’s so well crafted that its 48 minute runtime flies by, bookended by a seemingly melodeth-inspired tune called “Embodiment of Chaos” (for a riff-of-the-week contender). I counted about a thousand great riffs and a couple of terrific guitar solos. Finally, each of the songs was well constructed and catchy enough to be memorable after two listens (although I’m at about number 25 now). I give this record FOUR Toilet Emojis:
Oh, have you ever listened to Lost Soul from Poland? Fans of them will feel right at home with Adveniens. Go buy it on Bandcamp (praise be to the best music distribution on the planet). Here’s the second song they let folks listen to ahead of its release date (which is April 27th), “Angel of Revolution.” You can also swing by Facebook and tell the boys, “Toilet says howdy!”
