Deavnic's "Mask Industries" arrived in my mailbox last week. As I pondered the name I wondered why
such a cool name has not been heard of by me before that day. After reading the band's bio I came to find out
that the name's origins delve into Indian mythos and translates loosely as "luminous, glowing, heavenly". I
was more than a bit interested at this point, but I had to remain objective since my days of judging a band's
effect on me by the cover art and cool name are long over. Let's give you some background on these guys,
shall we?
Formed in May of 2004 in Austria (a country not known for its plethora
of metal bands good, bad or otherwise), vocalist and lead guitarist
Nikolaus Vuckovic and lead vocalist Andreas Danzer. The duo began
writing and arranging songs, finding solidarity and the perfect fit.
It only took an extra month to complete the vision with Mike Pawlowitsch
drumming, Peter Knall on bass and Christian Novak handling rhythm
guitars. The lineup remains solid on this, the band's sophomore release.
The band's first release, Mask Installed, was a self-produced effort
that was made available only for promo for radio stations, mags and
labels. Some of those tracks have been rerecorded here due to the
popular reception to the promo.
Mask Industries more or less makes a mockery of my latest statment
that nothing original or earth-shaking can be made these days and
we should just accept the music that comes our way as tunes steeped
heavily in older influences and be happy or disappointed. I have to
say that Devanic is a hell of a step in the right direction. While
the growling vocals are a seemingly unavoidable part of the curriculum
of heavy metal music I really dig the vocals of Andreas Danzer and
Niki Vuckovic - they handle it very well without and sign of ruination
by oversaturation! That is to say, it rocks hard and doesn't leave
me wanting or dreading anything. I am enjoying the CD as I type this
and it's a great metal journey with inspired guitar work and fine
structure to the songs that doesn't drift into sloppiness or boring,
overused riffs. From the very beginning of songs like "Mask Installed"
and "Use Your Skill" the tightness of sound and brutality
don't relent anywhere in bewtwen; good hooks and properly-placed time
changes afford the listener a true opportunity to experience a real
metal assault on the senses!
I usually try to steer away from comparisons to other bands, but I often use them to give you, the reader, an
overall sense of what to expect. I honestly hear a bit of older Dark Tranquility here (Enter Suicidal Angels-era)
and that makes for an interesting and stone-like kick to the stomach. I think Austria will be put even further
on the map of metal offerings with Devanic representing it!
Grab it and play it loud! Great CD!
