Destroyed In Seconds “Divide And Devour” Review

Destroyed In Seconds
Divide And Devour
Self-Released
Released: April 24, 2020

The new record from Destroyed In Seconds, Divide And Devour, is absolutely relentless from the get-go.

On this, the third full-length from Los Angeles’ crushing powerhouse Destroyed In Seconds have exploded with fury. I mean, this is just nasty. In all the ways you want a hardcore or D-beat release to be nasty. Pure aggression. Unrelenting pace. Ripping guitar work and strong vocals. There isn’t a dull moment through these eleven tracks, nor is there a point where the energy isn’t equivalent to a linebacker, in a mosh pit, after downing enough energy drinks to make a heart implode.

The title track and first on the track listing, Divide And Devour, is a beast. Starting off with a slick riff, before pausing for a moment, then starting on a snare hit that sparks a scorching guitar solo and a scream that all melds together so wonderfully. Such a strong start to what is ultimately a hard-hitting monster of a recording. Divide And Devour is delivered at a frantic pace. Tracks such as The Badge offer enough pure aggression, break-neck speed but melody and emotion to get even the most staunch and thrifty extreme music fan thrashing about. A theme that is omnipresent through the somewhat short running time of thirty-one minutes.

Destroyed In Seconds are able to blend melody with aggression as well as the masters of the genre, Tragedy. An emotional flatline, so beautifully morose and sorrowful. The concrete slab on which Tragedy have built their entire career upon. The guitars squeal with such panache. Now more heavy and metallic, probably due to newcomer Christian LaRocca, the main axe-man. Divide And Devour is a step beyond 2013’s Becoming Wrath, so much has changed in the almost eight-year gap between these two records. More viscous, much nastier – and full of contempt for modern-day American politics.

See Also : Cirith Ungol “Forever Black” Review

In no way, are Destroyed In Seconds, which features original members of grindcore stalwarts Phobia, Eat The Living and Mange, bringing anything fresh to the dinner table. Everything on Divide And Devour has been done before, by other bands. This is more about refining than about redefining. And that’s fine. Their own sound has evolved, and added more ingredients, by way of influences through new members, to the recipe – but the roots of the group, like a decades old oak tree, remain firmly planted and set to test time. After all, a wheel can only be re-invented so many times, redesigned so much – and at the end of the day, it remains what it always was – a wheel.

With the ever evolving world of extreme music, with each new wave of bands being influenced and paying homage to the groups that get them into which ever genre or sub-genre their ears pulsate towards, we are seeing something of a blender effect. It used to be, that punks listened to punk, metalheads only had interest in metal and so on and so forth. But not anymore. Maybe with music being so easily accessible now, or with humans in general being more open to new things and choosing not to pigeonhole themselves as was the past protocol – extreme music is now a melting pot. This is a prime example. Sure, what we have here is a D-Beat record, which is technically speaking, a subgenre of hardcore. However, like many if not all D-Beat bands, there are strong elements of the mid-90s Swedish death metal scene sown in to the fabrics. Patches, if you wish to ironic.

On Divide And Devour, there are segments that are very reminiscent of bands like Dismember, Unleashed and early At The Gates. Maybe not in tone, but riff-wise, especially in the solos, it most certainly is there. Then, of course, the influences of Discharge, who put the “D’ in D-beat, and the ’84 wave of UK hardcore and punk. In the microphone, the viral purulence that is bellowed forth is very indicative of Tomas Lindberg, who himself has played a mammoth role in building the bridge between death metal, hardcore and D-beat. Here, a mixture of Lindberg’s deliverances in At The Gates is felt, but his work in Skitsystem and Disfear more so. Without the trademark howl that encircles the greatness of Lindberg. This is all to say that Jon Tomala is a force on the vocals here. Powerful and beautifully violent.

Secure your copy of this self-released piece of sonic ferocity over at the Destroyed In Seconds bandcamp page, and while you’re grabbing Divide And Devour, check out their two previous releases too.

For Fans Of: Tragedy, Disfear, Severed Head Of State
Track Listing:

01. Divide And Devour
02. The Tower
03. The Bridge
04. Wraiths
05. Disarm
06. American Carnage
07. World When When
08. No Respect
09. Only Throats
10. Buzzards
11. Sulfur

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