Review: Deviant Remorse – Sonicbids Samples
[jwopitz's rating 4 out of 5]
Deviant Remorse
I got an email from these guys asking if I could review their music. Heck yeah I said. Deviant Remorse hails from SoCal. Newly formed in 2008 these guys have serious chops and a pretty cool style. Of the 4 sample tunes they provide, I can hear elements of Death (mostly because of the vocals), Testament, Overkill, Suicidal Tendencies and a few others. These guys seem to have their roots in Trash for sure.
Check out their samples page – link (nice use of something other than myspace. good job guys!)
the sound
One thing right off the bat that you notice is these guys gel well. Their sound is tight and highly polished (in the home brew sense). You’d think this was more production quality than demo quality. The mix is just right, allowing the listener to hear everything clearly. The bass is noteable too considering its unique sound. The vocal stylings are varied so they will probably appeal to many tastes.
the tunes
Lying Eyes
The best song of the bunch. The main two riffs are amazingly simple yet executed perfectly. They blend well with the vocal cadence and makes an already punishing song even more so. Everything about this song reminds me of Death for some reason, though it is neither that heavy nor technical. Probably the vocal styles. I just love anything that sounds like Chuck Schuldner. The stop time section is brilliant. Completely unexpected and how it is followed up by emphasizing the harmony in a brutal solo section with amazing pick slides and whammy bar effects. Again the best song by far and some of the best home brew metal I have heard in awhile. A must listen.
Deviant Remorse
A style smorgasbord. There is some pretty sick soloing throughout the B section of the tune. The guitar riffs are plenty touching upon many influences and keeping it fresh. The main riff is great, again simple and brutal. The second riff of the first section reminds me of something from Maiden (only a hint tho). I do dislike the hardcore vocal styles in the first verse section. I guess Nu-Metal or whatever the youngsters call it is just not my thing. But don’t let that sway you from hearing the tune to the end. A great tune overall and would not cause me to fast forward in the least bit. The solo section is some serious hammer on/off playing combined with some simple melodies that tho simplistic is perfect for the mood of the tune.
Bathe in Blood
The opening section doesn’t really do it for me. But after getting off to a slow start it hits a Testament-ish verse section which I love. The biggest issue for this tune is that it speeds up and slows down too many times for the amount of variation in speed (not tempo necessarily but more like the feel). Kinda incorporates some Nu-Metal elements I am not very fond of. The solo section is again freaking awesome. It hails back to old-school, hammer on/off, scalar runs you would probably have heard from early Metallica and Annihilator. Overall a good tune. Probably #3 for me.
Hell on Earth
Probably the most straight forward metal tune. Kinda reminds me of (again) Annihilator and Sanctuary. Very thematic-based solo, nothing too fancy unlike the other tunes but gets the job done. The vocal themes are repeated too many times in the chorus section but thats a stylistic thing more than a creativity issue. Probably my least favorite tune of the 4.
the summary
I like em and am anxious to hear more sample when they become available. Guys, if you read this, please keep me posted. Would I buy the album? Yeah probably. Would it be a frequent player or a dust collector? Its kinda hard to tell as 2 of these tunes are awesome the other 2 are forgetable. I think at this point it would be a frequent player and so long as newer songs stay closer to the styles of Lying Eyes and the self titled tune, it would remain so.
Up the Irons!!!!
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