Devangelic – Phlegethon – Album Review

The latest full length from Italian brutal death metallers DEVANGELIC is upon us and they’ve not only maintained the relatively high standards exhibited on their well received debut but they’ve also amped shit up a notch or two! Unabashedly brutish, the music found on Phlegethon may not be ground-breaking (though it is intricate) but it certainly scratches the itch which longs for ultra guttural and brutal death metal.

Based on a concept revolving around Dante’s Inferno (Phlegethon is a river of blood found in the seventh circle of hell that boils souls!), Devangelic may be aiming for high-brow but we actually find ourselves knee deep in the mire, wallowing in low-end filth and engulfed by a vicious avalanche of non-stop, evil death metal!

Look, you can’t a understand damn word that Paolo Chiti is gurgling about but then brutal death metal fans don’t need clear enunciation to thoroughly enjoy a good blast of their favourite sub-genre! Incidentally, the man is an Italian death metal institution in himself (Chiti currently fronts Antropofagus and Interminable Corruptions and is the ex-lead ‘singer’ of Corpsefucking Art, Gorefuck and Putridity) and his vocals are suitably grotesque and absolutely befitting the blast-beat riddled noise that surrounds him.

Devangelic are clearly not in the same league as Suffocation, Defeated Sanity and Disgorge (who are an  obvious inspiration) but they sure do stack up rather well. Unremittingly savage, Devangelic may need to evolve on their next release if they are to truly make a name for themselves but for now, Phlegethon is as satisfyingly brutal a death metal album as you could wish for in 2017! 7/10