Band's List Death Thrash Devoid (IND) A God’s Lie

Devoid is a death/thrash metal band hailing from India, and A God's Lie is their debut release, and remember to have your neck brace at hand as you load this album into your computer/audio system/whatever.

A God's Lie opens with an acoustic track, A Silent Death. Eerie background music, a gate opening then shutting again, accompanying the acoustic guitar prepares the listener for the impending chaos that is Devoid's craft. With guns and sirens at the background, accompanied by foreboding drum patterns and guitar riffs, the madness quickly begins with Battle Cry. Without much delay, the headbanging frenzy begins with Shubham's quick yet precise drumming. Arun's angry, barking vocals compliment the aggressive rhythm section, never failing to keep up with the pace set by the rest of the band.

Throughout the album, the band's influences, technical prowess and versatility are constantly displayed. For example, Possessed opens with pinch-harmonics infused and heavily palm-muted riffs before breaking into the song proper. The guitar solos on the album, while at times erratic in their time signatures, nonetheless manage to blend well with the rest of the instruments. The drumming and introduction riffs in New World Order reminds listeners of their love for technicality, reminiscent of bands such as Meshuggah. The guitar lines of songs such as Devoid of Emotions display prominently the NWOBHM influences in their songwriting. The melodic death metal influences are also prominent throughout the album, such as the execution of the vocals and the riffs present in the songs such as Hate Cult.

One standout moment was how at 2:54 of New World Order, the song slows down and a spoken track comes into the picture. This by no means a sign that Devoid has begun to soften their music as the climax and atmosphere gradually builds up and gets heavier and the song ends abruptly, with the spoken vocals reminding listeners that: "I WANT YOU TO GET MAD!". The heaviness and doom-ish pace of the music carries on to the final track, A God's Lie, until the 0:45 mark where all hell breaks loose once again.

To summarise, while Devoid presents nothing new to the sea of extreme metal bands, I have to say that unlike most bands that are trying to break into the scene, they have certainly pulled it off well with this debut full length and are certainly one band you would want to watch out for. A God's Lie is certainly one personal thrash metal highlight for 2010.