I don’t feel like writing an extended introduction to Polish act Vesania, because there is no way to express my appreciation for their sonic assaults anyway. Let’s say that their debut, 2003’s Firefrost Arcanum, was one of the most impressive debuts I’ve ever experienced, and it surely was one of the best albums that very same year (let’s call it end year’s list top-5 material, if you want to). Afterwards they continued impressing me, time after time, with each single album they recorded. Okay, these guys are enormously experienced (cf. activities in bands like Crionics, Behemoth, Masachist, Neolithic, Vader, Decapitated etc.), and since they play together for quite some time (most members are still from the original line-up) it isn’t that strange they sound so professional. But being in other famous bands does not necessarily mean that Vesania would rule. But they simply do…
Deus Ex Machina, their fourth full length, is Vesania’s first release in seven years. The album was recorded at Sound Division Studios, with mastering done at Visceral Sound Studios with Scott Hull (Circle Of dead Children, Withered, Sunn O))), Exhumed, Unearthly Trance and many more). It lasts for over fifty minutes and lyrically it might be the bleakest, most painful one to date: impotency, frustration, corruption, disappointment, fear, it’s nothing but a collection of happy poems…
Musically, not that much did change after all this time (seven years, as mentioned before), at least when talking about the content, the execution and song writing, though with exception of the different technical approach. What I mean with that is this: more than before, these guys experiment in a rather progressive way (not of the Prog-Metal kind, of course). Experimenting has never been a stranger to Vesania, but this time it comes closer to the likes of, indeed, Behemoth and Decapitated. But in general, Deus Ex Machina still combines powerful and intense (Black) Metal with a leading role for synths. The natural evolution in this band’s case brings them to a next level, still flirting with the likes of Dimmu Borgir, Old Man’s Child, Emperor and the likes.
There is no doubt that these guys know what to do with their instruments, and that they do know how to write interesting stuff. But Deus Ex Machine surely is the most accessible Vesania-effort to date. I mean: the most commercial one. The obscure atmosphere that darkened the former releases (with emphasis on the fabulous debut especially) made room for a catchier approach. The song structures still are well-thought, yet less intriguing, I think. Don’t get me wrong, for I think this album is the most brutal and rocking one to date. But personally I do miss the oppressing and suffocating atmosphere from old, which has been replaced by constructions and spheres that are, well, let’s call it ‘easier’ to get accepted by the listener’s ear drums.
Conclusion (once again from a subjective, personal point of view): Deus Ex Machina is a strong Tech-Metal album for sure, yet Vesania’s least satisfying one to date. Personally I am deeply disappointed…