Spanish death metallers Devotion stream the entirety of their highly anticipated third album, Astral Catacombs, at the Death Metal Promotion YouTube channel. Set for international release on April 22nd via Memento Mori, hear Devotion’s Astral Catacombs in its entirety exclusively here: Devotion (Spa) – Astral Catacombs (Album 2024) (youtube.com)
Spain’s Devotion are an exemplary study in patience and persistence. Formed in 2012 near Valencia, the band have gone through myriad lineups, but have parceled out their recordings when the time was right, for maximum impact and immersion. Their debut album, Necrophiliac Cuts, came in 2015, but its year of release might as well have been 1993; Devotion are nothing if not devoted to the timeless archetype provided by death metal during its early ’90s heyday. But while many years would pass until its follow-up arrived, in 2021, The Harrowing was indeed aptly titled: split between „chants“ and „dirges,“ the Spaniards put on a masterclass in putrid, mid-tempo CRUSH with memorability for miles. Consistent yet different enough, Devotion between the two albums might’ve had power-trio and quintet lineups, respectively, but the path was nevertheless deliberate and (d)evolved.
Arriving quite „quickly“ for their standards, the revamped-yet-again Devotion arrive all guns blazing with LP#3, Astral Catacombs. Another perfectly titled recording, Astral Catacombs is rich in atmosphere and crunch alike, taking their all-caps DEATH METAL one ladder-rung up and down that evolutionary scale. Their characteristic tank-rolling sound heads toward some truly vile paths here, almost bestial in its slaughtering impulses, moving ominously and measuredly despite the near-primal ferocity; on the same hand, a pronounced emphasis on their classy side arises, namely in the well-timed and -composed soloing, but also particularly in their songwriting movement. It’s a unique balance/tradeoff that slowly-yet-surely shows stunning growth on Devotion’s part, lending Astral Catacombs immediate replayability to catch every (crooked) nuance and (skewed) dynamic. Put another way, we can look to the band’s primary influences of Bolt Thrower, Grave, or Morgoth for precedents: Bolt Thrower’s transition from The IVth Crusade to …For Victory, for example, or Grave’s from You’ll Never See… to Soulless, or especially Morgoth’s from Cursed to Odium. If none of that sounds palatable or enticing, then Astral Catacombs is NOT for you!
Graced with suitably ethereal cover art courtesy of Naroa Etxebarria, Astral Catacombs crowns Devotion’s trifecta of streamlined brilliance!
