I do not know if I can call it a present to humanity, but to celebrate their definitive and irreversible farewell, Deviator bless / curse mankind with a compilation, which sees the light (and darkness!) through Germany’s top-label Pesttanz Klangschmiede (about ten other releases have been reviewed recently by undersigned, and have been posted in July, August or September; check the site and find out what qualitative material Pesttanz have to offer…). This compilation consists of five re-recorded tracks from Deviator’s rather impressive discography (yet four of them taken from the band’s debut album, Mighty Black Inner Flame), and three songs taken from their latest studio recording, Fehu-Fohat-Fire (Depressive Illusions, 2012). As a bonus, the album also includes two videos shot live during the recording process.
This Ukrainian project by Dmitry ‘L. Hastner’ Kundelskiy has evolved from grim and Ambient-injected Black Metal to a more Death-laden form of Black Metal, and this compilation (which has a total running time of about forty seven minutes, by the way) indeed dwells within spheres of the latter. To Forgotten Path – Triumph Of The Will opens with the epic instrumental song Forgotten Hope, which is a nice opener, but with nothing special to add. Things start getting interesting as from the second composition, Mighty Black Inner Flame. Which is a melodic and atmospheric, minimal and traditional Death-injected mid-tempo Black hymn, including some discordant yet very nice leads towards the end. And the better part of To Forgotten Path … continues this way. The tempo varies from slow over mid-speed to rather fast, yet these differences are nicely-cohesively balanced. The rhythm section (bass, rhythm guitars and drums) is of the grimly-hammering kind, sometimes reminding me a lot to the sound on Samael’s debut album Worship Him (listen to the melodies and structures, especially the rhythm guitars, on a tracks like Hymn To Immortals or Undying Darkness and you’ll understand what I mean with this comparison). The last three songs, taken from Fehu-Fohat-Fire, are better qua sound, but little more modernised and mechanical as well in execution (but the increased sound quality predominates the use of drum computer).
Unfortunately the whole experience isn’t that memorable. The quality of the songs is fine, but nothing more than that. Not once I could conclude with ‘well, that’s a damn-fine sonic piece’… That’s all I have to say…