Formed during 2002 in Sandviken, Sweden the Black Metal band DEVOURER has seven releases to its credit, including their latest one "Dawn Of Extinction".  The album was released earlier this year and manages to showcase the band's impressive talent quite well.

The album opens with "The Sculpting Hands Of Doom".  The song has an atmospheric intro which features a lone guitar playing in a dark and mournful manner before the nature of the track gradually changes to something much louder and far more brutal. The vocal performance by Fredik Haf is the real star of the show as the singer manages to find the perfect balance between guttural growls and grating shrieks. Add in some well-played guitar riffs and you have a song that ROCKS. "Beast Of Famine" is fast-paced, Thrash-filled and full of rage. Once again the vocal performance positively sells the track with an excellent blend of fury, brutality and a commanding air that you won't want to ignore. The guitars are hard-hitting, the bass-line is intense and the percussion is ridiculously well-executed. A nearly perfect Black Metal song is the end result. The third and fourth tracks, "Nihil" and "Redemptive Suicide" are also excellent. Both are a bit slower than the first two songs, yet both have the same punch that those other tracks do.

"Evighetens Bila" features down-tempo guitars that take off at high speed as the percussion kicks in and the vocals commence. Yet another highly effective vocal performance with plenty of growling to please your blackened heart. It gets even better as the singer gets louder then literally snarls with anger. A change of pace midway drops the speed considerably, which also ends up drawing the listener even further into the dark abyss. It's clear that the band has done their homework with regard to what Black Metal should sound like; bless their dark hearts! "Narconemesis" is also a great track as is "Conjuring The Cleansing Inferno".  More fantastic vocal performances as well as dark and heavy music make each track a winner; I think most listeners will end up checking out both tracks several times simply to make sure they don't miss anything. However, my personal favorite is the final track, "Of God's Ruins".  It's down-tuned, discordant and the darkest song of all from this album. An outstanding bass performance take center stage with a sound that makes your skeleton feel like it's rattling while you listen to it. There are so many good things happening within the song that there's little point in listing them. If you want to know what the track is like then you need to give it a listen for yourself because I can't do it justice by trying to explain how fantastic it is. It's evidence that the band not only understands what Black Metal should sound like, but truly loves and appreciates the genre for the brooding, sinister beauty that it carries within its twisted soul. Evil has never sounded so damned good!

So, do I think you should get "Dawn Of Extinction" for yourself? Absof*ckinglutely! It is incredibly great; I can't emphasize that enough. Go get yourself a copy, turn off your phone, and just LISTEN to it. You won't be sorry. I'm going to play it again after I submit my review.