Devil’s Reef – The Droste Observer
Release Date: 8th December 2023
Label: The Artisan Era
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Death Metal, Technical Death Metal.
FFO: Revocation, Death, Obscura, Alkaloid, Martyr, Psycroptic.
Review By: Eric Wilt
When listening to a new album, it’s important—but difficult—to go into the experience without any preconceived notions or expectations. This is something I’m not very good at, and due to the fact that Devil’s Reef is on Artisan Era, I pushed play for the first time expecting a tech-death shredfest similar to what you’d get from Inferi or The Ritual Aura. For this reason, I was initially let down because although Devils Reef certainly includes some tech-death riffing, there is a whole lot more going on than what can be summed up with one genre label. So, the second time I listened to the album all the way through, I threw out my expectations and was treated to a really enjoyable listening experience. Devil’s Reef is a three-piece genre-bending band from Maryland, and their new full-length, The Droste Observer, will be out on 8 December 2023.
Genre labels are beneficial when searching for new bands, but they can be limiting as well. Instead of calling Devils Reef a tech-death band, I would probably call them a progressive death metal band. Their technical riffing is more akin to Death than the aforementioned Inferi, but they bring much more to the table than just this. Much like Revocation’s The Outer One’s, Devils Reef incorporates grooving riffs and some thrash without ever moving totally away from death metal the way Revocation did on some of their earlier albums. In addition to this, Devils Reef even adds some black metal riffs to one track, and it’s all held together by great songwriting, which Devils Reef has in spades.
So even though Devil’s Reef can certainly shred—listen to the title track for proof of this—The Droste Observer is much more than just a tech-death shredfest. Araneous opens the album with some black metal riffs that fit in perfectly with everything else Devil’s Reef is bringing to the mix, while many other songs on the album, songs like The Eye Wreathed in Flame, Cyclical Awakening, and Born of Blood, combine grooving verses with tech-death riffing similar to Psycroptic and Revocation. Paradigm I: Betrayal leans heavily on chunky riffs while vocally, the band moves to a half singing/half screaming delivery that reminds me of Matt Heafy from Trivium. Finally, Paradigm II: Clarity finishes things up with a super-heavy mid-paced crusher that even delves into crossover thrash for a few seconds.
All in all, The Drost Observer is an extremely enjoyable album that I expect I will return to many times. Fans of Revocation will especially like the direction Devil’s Reef has taken their music, but with all of the various genres incorporated into the songs, any fan of extreme metal should be able to find plenty to love on this record.
(4 / 5)
