Divine Heresy
Bringer of Plagues

If I were ever asked to express in a single sentence what this album might represent, I would certainly say: how to release a simple and straightforward album while taking the most challenging path of intricate technicalities. There. At this point, I could even finish the review because, in the end, all the words and concepts I might express are well synthesized, in my opinion, in this simple statement.

But, in all fairness and honesty, I must also "give Caesar what belongs to Caesar," and one cannot talk about Dino Cazares' band—a man with guts, someone who has played (and still plays) in Fear Factory, a man who grinds guitar chords with his eight-string guitar proportionally heavy to his body mass—dismissing him with a couple of adjectives. Especially when the guy in question is surrounded by people who know their stuff and, in the case of bassist Joe Payne, hails from none other than Nile, while drummer Tim Yeung comes first from Vital Remains and then from Hate Eternal.

So here we're not talking about novices or kids who decided to "revolutionize" the world of Death/Thrash Metal, but seasoned artists who, with this "Bringer of Plagues," have published a tough, powerful, balanced record that doesn't miss delivering quite a few slashes to those who listen. The singer Travis Neal, the only one without a prestigious background of belonging to big-name bands, does well and is quite skilled at blending nervous scream parts with clean and melodic singing, certainly adding something to the instrumental ensemble, which is outstanding.
He certainly isn't Burton C. Bell, going back to Fear Factory, and I believe he's fully aware of it, but he certainly deserves praise for his work, which in many moments enhances, quite a lot, Cazares' guitar thrashing or the melodic openings that are proposed here in many sections.

Thus the opening of the album is entrusted to a "Facebreaker" purposely placed as a trailblazer, in my opinion, to entice listening and consequently potential purchase; also because it neatly sums up what you will find yourself listening to: brutally fast, technical, and powerful attack, with "stop&go" outbursts of surgical precision and a shouted but melodic chorus sung with clean vocals, although truth be told, it ends up sounding a bit too "plasticized" over time.
Here lies perhaps the greatest flaw of this album: the fact that it sounds too precise, too perfect, too studied, and this unfortunately negatively impacts the group's otherwise outstanding work.
Had they perhaps relied on a less "mechanical" production, and maybe if the band itself had decided to "let loose a bit," not curbing the anger and the enormous power that is sensed in the various instrumental passages ("The Battle of J.Casey," just to cite an example), then at this moment, I would be writing about a spectacular new work; instead, one must objectively speak of an album with many highs ("Undivine Prophecies", "The End Begins", the best of the batch, and "Anarchaos" among all) and some lows (like in "Redefine" and "Darkness Embedded" that someone sooner or later will surely have to explain to me what the heck it has to do with the rest).

I'm probably a bit too harsh in my judgment, or perhaps it's the opposite, but I have to say that a bit of bitterness remained with me listening to the entire album, mindful of the fact that from giants like Dino Cazares, one wants and must expect indeed gigantic performances. However, I tend to consider this work not at all negative, and I'll certainly listen to it passionately many times, but it will never become one of those albums that you pay attention to even after some time.

For the rest, I hope that many will like it and that it will be successful, although I strongly doubt it could be listed among the albums of the year. Surely someone has done better regarding pure "sentiment" (it's strange to hear about that in a Death Metal review, isn't it? But those who are familiar with it, Tepes in the first place, will understand me very well), about the technique there is no debate, as it reaches peaks that few can match.
As always, the well-known "de gustibus" applies, and as far as I'm concerned, I believe my "unsolicited opinion" is quite clear.