Divinity Compromised - A world torn 4.5/5
Reviewed: 8-1-13
Tracklist:
1. Children of a dead god
2. The way home
3. The guardians of ki
4. A world torn apart
5. When myth becomes truth
6. The loyal shall inherit
7. Termination sequence
8. The slaughter of innocents
9. Descent into madness
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Here comes an unsigned and relatively unknown metal band, just one of many in the world, trying to get themselves out there by letting their music do the talking. Divinity Compromised are an American melodic (dark) power/progressive metal band out of Chicago, whose debut will certainly raise eyebrows and turn heads; ‘A world torn’ released in March of 2013 is a damn fine CD worthy of your time.
Formed in 2009, Divinity Compromised is a young band, but is headed by an experienced guitarist by the name of Vito Marchese, who also plays in the American doom metal band, Novembers Doom. Rounding out the remainder of the band, Divinity Compromised features vocalist Lothar Keller (Sacred Dawn), bassist Andy Bunk, guitarist Jeff Treadwell, keyboardist Ben Johnson and drummer Mike Mousel. Aside from playing the local traps around their native Chicago area, the lads just recently played the “Pathfinder Metalfest VI” in Georgia, a festival created, organized and promoted by a friend of mine named Hoyt Parris.
What you’ll get from this debut is a wonderful dose of melodic metal that uses a lot of electronic and symphonic elements, with the band forging traditional heavy metal, progressive metal and dark power metal together for a heavy and bombastic wall of sound and synths, with intricate drumming and hammering guitar riffs throughout. Vocalist Lothar is an exceptional singer, who is quite passionate but has a ton of power, grit and aggression in his voice. Able to be gruff when needed, he can also soar higher into the upper echelons with melodic ease.
I am quite impressed with the quality of the CD - for a band that released it independently, the sound is extremely good and I doubt it will take much time for a label to pick these guys up. I'm also impressed with the efforts into the songwriting of ‘A world torn’; the guys certainly know how to write catchy, complex, interesting and entertaining songs that have significant impact, keeps your interest the whole way through and is not clearly predictable or sticks to rigid song-structures.
Listening through the songs I can definitely hear the signature guitar sound of Vito Marchese, as I know his riffs well from many Novembers Doom CDs. Continuing on, there are some great tracks throughout ‘A world torn’ that have their own identity and characteristics, and are reasonably different from one another, giving off different vibes and emotions, and tempos too. One of the speediest tracks on the CD is also one of the best, “Guardians of ki”, a thumping track shrouded in dark undertones and double-bass pummeling. The guitar riffs are broodish, bold and heavy, while the dark synths add another element to the track.
Other standout songs on the CD include the rampant and chaotic “A world torn apart”, with a catchy melodic chorus and flighty keyboards, “When myth becomes truth”, which reminds me greatly of Novembers Doom, and the symphonic-laden “The loyal shall inherit”, again containing crushing guitar riffs and powerful drumming. I won’t spoil the entire CD for you, however I also must mention the CD closer, the 9-minute epic opus “Descent into madness”, which has everything you want in a dark metal song and much more.
Divinity Compromised might still be fairly unknown, but their achievement here on ‘A world torn’ will be more than enough to put these guys squarely on the metal map. Unsigned? Not for long going by the kick-ass sound, quality and musicianship of all involved in putting this CD together. If you like the fierceness of Novembers Doom but also like your dark power metal with hints of symphonic elements and saturated with synths, then Divinity Compromised is the band you need to seek out. Quite versatile and unique in their own way; these guys are looking to go very far and it was refreshing to hear their style of metal over all the typical generic styles around at the moment. Excellent effort and 2 thumbs up.
SEAN
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