The term "thinking person's band" is tossed around quite a bit by music journalists. There are plenty of bands from across the Metal spectrum that incorporate philosophical, sociological, psychological and otherwise academic themes into their music. This label, however, truly fits Argentina's Devius. Their brand of extremely progressive Death Metal is not only incredibly catchy and accessible for many fans, but the lyrical concepts and themes behind their latest album "The Absents Presence" are pretty intellectually rigorous.

This album is, as I said, very progressive, featuring, among the standard instruments like Guitars, Bass and Drums, a Sitar. This can be heard on songs like "The Logic of a Dying Man" and "Lowest Common Denominator" quite clearly; It is clear that they aren't utilising Sitars purely as a throwaway element in their music to broaden their sound, as it features prominently when it appears. The music, overall, can be described as a heady mix of progressive and experimental bands like THE DILLENGER ESCAPE PLAN and THE HAARP MACHINE, mixed with straight up Technical Death Metal, similar to bands like AEON. In a way, a lot of the music on this album comes across as very Djent-like, although it manages to keep a hold of your attention whereas a good number of Djent bands tend to produce mediocre songs based around acrobatic guitar sections. Songs like album closer "The Vein and the Blade" prove to be highlights on the album, featuring a sound-bite of the late Christopher Hitchens discussing the indoctrination of children in the bridge leading up to the guitar solo. I'm not entirely sure if there's any ways that this band could improve on their music without getting really pedantic and discussing really minor details. The album's mixing hasn't neglected one element over the others, and everything works in harmony, only placing emphasis on one single part if it is completely necessary to enhance the music. If there is any thing I would say, it is this; these guys appear to have got the balance right as far as experimentation goes, and they shouldn't really stray any further into the progressive aspects of their sound, in case they go too far over the edge and fall into the trap of producing music that puts too much emphasis on the progressive side than making it remotely listenable or enjoyable for their audience. Otherwise, this album is brilliant.

Overall, this record is great. It straddles so many borders, be they Death Metal, Progressive Metal or Djent, that they are sure to attract plenty of people to them and their music. Even if you are not a fan of progressive music, this is worth giving at least one listen.