Devenial Verdict – Blessing of Despair Review

The moment the single “I Have Become the Sun” appeared on Transcending Obscurity’s 2024 label sampler, Devenial Verdict’s sophomore album Blessing of Despair became one of my most anticipated of the year. Ash Blind, 2022’s profound and uncompromisingly heavy atmospheric death metal debut, blindsided me and cruised nonchalantly into my year-end list. Tagged as ‘dissonant,’ Devenial Verdict rather occupies that ideal zone of pseudo-disso-death that warps disharmony into mournfulness and urgency, creating a “huge, sinister, and darkly beautiful” sound. With Lewandowski’s “Absolute Authority” standing as a signifier, Blessing of Despair spins parables of the cursed. Its movements are the laments of doomed creation; the expression of the infinite distance between the hoped-for divine purpose, and reality.

Blessing of Despair is a moody record. It maintains and further refines the atmospheres of its predecessor. Devenial Verdict swings back and forth with greater frequency (and greater ease) between temper tantrums—stomping, chuggy battering—and lethally graceful restraint. Already compelling, these swings produce a vice grip of coercive control thanks to the intense groove holding everything together. Percussion (Okko Tolvanen), strings (Sebastian Frigren and Antti Poutanen), and vocals (Riku Saressalo), jointly compose rhythms so satisfying and irresistible they almost shouldn’t be allowed in extreme music this atmospheric (particularly on “Blessing of Despair” and “Solus”). For, as my ears bear witness, it can become almost impossible to crawl out of the abyss of delicious darkness Blessing of Despair opens up.

What makes Blessing of Despair so powerful is that it dials everything that makes Devenial Verdict unique up a notch, purifying and evolving an already distinctive sound. There were thunderous cascades of bass beats and throat-rending roars before, but nothing like the chest-slamming thrill that opens the album after a visceral inhale (“I Have Become the Sun”), nor the glorious devastation crashing through “Blessing of Despair,” nor the insidious aggression of “Garden of Eyes,” and “Solus.” There were flirtations with distorted, alien wails in the guitarwork, but they pale next to the undulations of “Moon-Starved;” the disquieting “wouarm”-ing of “Cold Lantern,” and the electrifying slides and squeals Devenial Verdict yank out of chord progressions hither and yon. Blessing of Despair excels at developing melody and integrating it into the soundscape. Melancholy weaves in and out (“Moon-Starved” or “The Quietus”) if it doesn’t hang like a specter in resonance (“A Curse Made Flesh”). The dragging drawls of “A Curse Made Flesh,” the suddenly sirenlike descent in “Solus,” and, especially, interlude “Shunned Wander,”¹ don’t give me chills just because they’re beautiful. Themes carried on the stream of Blessing of Despair’s grander composition, these songs flow seamlessly out of and into those surrounding them.

And so it is that Blessing of Despair’s best moments are those where the idiosyncratic musicianship and calamitous heaviness combine with mournful refrains and irresistible groove. The final act of “Solus” is hands-down the best musical moment of the year so far; fusing a yearning, morose minor strain with a magnetic cadence. Aided by solemn refrains, rhythm combines with shivering atmosphere (“Blessing of Despair,” “A Curse Made Flesh”), and the addition of half-whispered growls (“The Quietus,” “Cold Lantern”) to create breathless and inexorable tides of an unresistable meter. The magnitude of such highs does—perhaps inevitably—throw a little shade upon other songs. “Counting Silence” is weaker than its brethren, extending its runtime beyond what its mysterious chords and explosive eventuality can justify. The pensive “A Curse Made Flesh” is an understated way to end the album, lacking the authority that the glorious “World Breaker” had on Ash Blind. Yet this latter ordering nitpick doesn’t detract from a song that is, in its individuality at least, brilliantly crafted. And the more I listen to it, the more I appreciate the somber introspection it lends as the final chords hum and fade away.

Blessing of Despair proves that lightning can strike twice for Devenial Verdict. With a song of the year contender in its midst,² it’s a force to be reckoned with. Being consistently this strong is no mean feat. Anticipation rewarded with this catharsis of forward-thinking, stellar atmospheric death metal is a blessing.

Rating: Great
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s CBR mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: October 4th, 2024