Review Summary: Ex Fear Factory Dino's latest musical love child
Ok so then Divine Heresy, new speed metal kids on the block?…wrong! All of the band members have a lifetime of experience within the music industry most notably the founder of the group Mr Dino Cazeras (former Fear Factory member whos name i probaly haven't spealt correctly). As far as I know Vext the singer of the Divine heresy is the only relative newcomer. Drummer Tim young is renown as a speedy little drummer but I cant say I’ve delved into his back catalogue of work mainly because I didn’t really want to be comparing Divine Heresy to all of his previous works and all I know about the bass player is that he is an ex Nile member.
Now for the Album “Bleed The Fifth”. It opens with a bang, literally a bomb can be heard detonating, then suddenly Dino’s trademark chugging guitar comes thundering in brutally attacking your neighbours tolerance levels. The thing I noticed right away is Dino’s plying style has evolved from his Fear Factory material its much less industrial and more riff (thrash/ Death metal)influenced but for all those old school Dino lovers he still has his trademark style. I’ve always told people that Dino’s guitar work when paired with fast double bass beats reminds me of a type writer going off, weird I know buts that all I can compare it to well other then a machine gun you choose what’s more appropriate. The album opener is brutal but the vocalist lets this song down with relatively ape like lyrics “Bleed the fifth, Face Smash Fist, Case Dismissed” I think he screams out in the chorus…hardly Shakespeare. The Second song and first single of the album (and first track I heard) “Failed Creation” is a good track in my opinion but again Vext’s lyrical abilities let the song down in sections but I will admit some lines of these song are pretty well thought up. The track contains brutal stop start style verses full of growled vocals which lead into a really nice typical Dino meets double bass breakdown/ chorus with Vext Singing over the top I personally think this section sounds good and dare I say it awesome! Other highlights of “Bleed the Fifth” come in the form of the track “Saviour Self” which features a brutal speed metal minute or so full of bone crunching guitars and rib shattering drums beats until suddenly the chorus drops in, all I can do is describe the chorus as probably the best of the album feature no distortion and amazing clean vocals, dare I say it this chorus reminds me of fear factory. “Rise of the Scorned” is another great track and put together in much the same way as “Saviour self” but with only one singing section and some clean guitar parts, personally this and the album closer “Closure “ are my top choices from this album, “Closure” being the ballad almost entirely sung track from Divine Heresy (every trendy metal band needs on ey!)
Considering I’m on the topic of Tom “Vext”, I think its Vext it could be Vex either way it sounds a bit dumb but I’m sure it has a meaning behind it but anyway, I think his vocal style should be addressed. His scream/ growl isn’t what id call anything amazing it isn’t guttural enough for my liking or even powerful enough but I don’t believe screaming is where his strength lies.. Tom has a hidden talent that is rarely shown off part from a brief few chorus’s and track 10 “Closure” and that is his clean singing voice. Its nothing original but he sings well and its nice to hear a man with a manly singing voice these days considering the trend of late is imitating either a dying cat or a teenage girl. So I say thumbs up for his singing voice and a thumbs down for his screaming. Other band member wise Tim is as tight as well loads of things I probably cant comment on within the realm of this wonderful site which is a great thing and bass wise its good if nothing amazingly original.
Well I’ve praised this album, now to pick it to pieces with the sole intention being to make Dino cry to his parents. Right one flaw this album has is that pretty much bar one or two songs the entire album lacks variation, I mean sure there are a few clean guitar sections and pretty parts but so………who cares that’s not original or variation, we want to see Dino and the lads racking there brains to dazzle the fans and critics alike but nothing comes. Most of the guitar riffs and drum lines sound identical to my ears and if it wasn’t for well Toms singing voice and the great structuring of the tracks and songs themselves id probably find the album very bland. The screaming vocals also let the album down and some older fear factory fans may well find themselves comparing Divine Heresy to the industrial metal legends as the album still maintains a fairly futuristic feel thanks to the similar guitar riffs and Toms clean vocal passages.
Overall this album is definitely worth a listen, the songs are well put together and are generally good but for Fear Factory fans you wont find anything new or innovating in “Bleed The Fifth” but check it out anyway.
Listen to
Saviour Self
Rise of the Scorned
Failed Creation
And also for anyone who’s been kind enough to read through this please give at least a critical comment on my writing style and technique otherwise I wont improve and will continue to annoy you with badly written articles! I don’t mind your personal views on the album and band and I love seeing them but I just haven’t really good any critical feedback from my previous reviews.
