Devils Rage-Rise of Insanity

Self-Release/Independent
2012

"Stemming from central Switzerland and the dark depths beyond, namely Sursee, we are Devils Rage and would appreciate your time to review our debut studio album, "Rise of Insanity"." Thus began the email from, what I assumed would be, just another "melodic death metal" band. Anymore doesn't it just seem like this kind of band is interchangeable? Especially all of the up and coming young ones. Melodic death metal bands
are a dime a dozen and I really expected Devils Rage to be just another new band bringing nothing new to the party. As the seven track EP opened with "Intro" I was having a hard time mustering any kind of enthusiasm. Having been proved wrong on more then one occasion though I trudged on hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. I really need to learn to be more open and patient when it comes to these kinds of bands though especially as Devils Rage was kind enough to slap me in the face and give me a much needed boast of energy yesterday. As I went about doing some errands I found myself fully engaged in this young band by the end of track number two, "Because Of You". Did I really just get done saying that melodic death metal was all out of new tricks? This young band was originally formed in 2006, but (from the sound of it) didn't start to pick up steam until 2010. By that point in time they had established a steady line-up and spent two "intensive" years just playing out and building up a following. In 2012 the band was finally able to step into the studio with the resulting EP, "Rise of Insanity", being nothing short of amazing given the young nature of this band and, what was most likely, a limited budget to work with. It was Devils Rage member Patrik Schumacher (guitars) who was kind enough to send this EP my way for consideration so I must therefore throw some devil horns in the hair as a nod of appreciation in his direction. I would enthusiastically endorse this EP if just for the track "Because Of You". At close to 6 minutes in length this song goes through so many changes it's almost hard to keep track of everything! "Because Of You" falls somewhere along the lines of later day At The Gates or early The Haunted. It's something to hear somewhat softer death metal growls bouncing off of sinister thrash that flat out shreds!  Even with a run-time of 6 minutes it never gets boring as the band simply thrashes about in a manor that is both fun and frantic! In fact, with the exception of the sample-filled intro, most of the tracks here hover around the 5 minute mark which gives Devils Rage plenty of time to work in interesting time changes and catchy riffs. "Exit" is track number three and ups the band's aggression level considerably. By the time the EP ends with "Stupid" you feel as if you've been whip-lashed. "Glorious Liberation" and "Devils Rage" are insanely crunchy and showcase a young band with plenty of good ideas and a bright future ahead of them. Both of those tracks found me in a very metal mood as did "Inhuman". By "Stupid" I was rather bummed that there wasn't more to this EP! "Rise of Insanity" is sure to please those of you into the likes of In Flames, The Haunted, Arch Enemy and At The Gates while the number "Because Of You" could actually have a much wider appeal thanks to some of it's thrash-rock riffs! I look forward to what comes next for this young band. You can find out more about Devils Rage at either of the links below and "Rise of Insanity" can be downloaded from iTunes and Amazon.


 http://www.devilsrage.ch/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Devils-Rage/36373959781?ref=ts