Reviews: SAT194
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Collectively, the founding three members of the Louisiana band Excommunicated have more than 75 years of experience in the metal underground. When you add in the balance of the line-up on their new album Death Devout, the combined experience goes well over the century mark. They’ve been involved in numerous other groups across a range of extreme genres, but it’s clear that they all have one passion in common, one that’s reflected in this new album’s title — a devotion to death (metal).
Excommunicated’s 2011 debut album, Skeleton Key, was a collection of 10 original songs conceptually making up “a dark treatise on the medieval Catholic Church; centering on corruption, abuse, as well as strange and ghoulish habits”, and they have plans to record a sequel in the near future, with the tentative title of The Exterminating Angel. But what they’ve done in the meantime, with Death Devout, is to pay homage to a pantheon of death metal greats. This is an album that consists mainly of cover songs, and we have the premiere of one of those covers today in advance of the album’s April 20 release date.
But before we get to that premiere, let’s take a look at the track list
That track list ought to punch all sorts of buttons among the death metal faithful. The button puncher we have today is Excommunicated’s cover of Obituary’s “Intoxicated” from their 1989 debut album Slowly We Rot.
Obituary’s original is a nasty, gruesome, toxic, dynamic, and thoroughly electrifying piece of work (and a huge headbanger to boot), a song you don’t forget if you’ve ever heard it. Excommunicated do one hell of fine job with their cover; which is faithful to the original but sounds even more powerful and punishing, though no less electrifying. And fittingly, ex-Obituary guitarist James Murphy turns in a guest lead-guitar performance on the track.
For those new to Excommunicated, the band was formed in early 2010 by guitarist Jason McIntyre, a founding member of the brutal death metal band Suture (years active: 1995-2007); guitarist Jonathan Joubert, a founding member of Despondency (years active: 1993-2002), a melodic death metal band from the Lafayette area, as well as the progressive metal act Psychometry; and vocalist/keyboardist Chad Kelly, a founding member of Catholicon (years active: 1994-2009), a black/death metal band from the Baton Rouge area (he was also part of the black metal duo project Satanist (2005-2007)).
Rounding out the line-up on the new album are drummer Mike Heller (Fear Factory, Raven, System Divide, Malignancy) and bassist Bruno Muenzler (Suture, Slime In the Current). The album also features a number of guest appearances, including the one by James Murphy on the track we’re premiering today.
After 7 years Excommunicated finally has a new release out! Their 2011 debut was one of my favorite albums that year and was a well written and researched unique sounding black/death metal expose on the crimes of the Catholic church and now they're currently working on a follow up to that one which will focus on the American Christian inquisition on Native Americans which I'm very much looking forward to. But in the meantime they just put out this all covers album as a tribute to the late 80's and early 90's death metal that influenced them. Some amazing covers on here of Barnes-era Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Pungent Stench, Bolt Thrower, plus many more and even a hidden Samhain and Anal Cunt cover thrown in at the end.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj754behkPV/
Tässä silmäillessäni sekä viime aikojen postauksiani että soittolistaani, havaitsin meiningin kallistuneen voimakkaasti tunteellisen atmosfäärimelankolian puoleen. Tämä luonnollisesti saa kenet hyvänsä orastavan hätääntyneisyyden valtaan. Moisesta kun tunnetusti on äärimmäisen lyhyt tie totaaliseen runopoikamoodiin. Kohta ryyppäämisen ja tappelemisen sijaan jonotan yrittiteet termarissa Paperi T:n uutta runokirjaa punavuoressa pellavatunikaan verhoutuneena. Jostain tarvitaan siis akuutisti lääkettä tähän metallipään puutostilaan. Yleensä tämän kaltaisiin heikkouden hetkiin toimivin lääke löytyy vanhan koulukunnan runttauksesta, ja mikäpä olisi sen uskottavampi troppi, kuin kuin tuo vanha kuolukunta itse. Sen kanssa tahtoo vaan välillä olla hiukan haastavaa, kun nykyään metalli kuulostaa tuotannollisesti niin paljon paremmalta kuin vanhoina, tukkoisina aikoina. Kiitos Bielsebuupin, tähän ongelmaan tulee nyt vastaus, kun Baton Rougen dödislähettiläät, Excommunicated puskee yllättävän lätyn naapurimaan Satanath recordsin avittamana. Mikäs tässä Death Devoutissa sitten on muka niin yllättävää? No se, että albumi koostuu lähes pelkästään cover-biiseistä. Yhtye on valinnut hyvin spesifisen ajankohdan (karkeasti 1989 – 1992) dödiksen historiassa, ja lähtenyt coveroimaan ko ajanjakson tuuttaajien teoksia. Moista ei ole ainakaan allekirjoittaneelle tullut vastaan, joten luonnollisesti oli otettava selvää mistä hommassa oikein on kysymys.
Albumin soundimaailmaa ei oikein voi summata, koska se ei säily samanlaisena, vaan muuttuu coveroitavien kipaleiden mukaan. Yhtye on soundillisesti kaikin tavoin pyrkinyt mahdollisimman lähelle esikuviaan, kuitenkin päivittäen tuotantoa tähän päivään. Tässä ollaan onnistuttu erinomaisesti, ja albumin soundit ovat silkkaa timanttia. Jokainen cover-stygeistä kunnioittaa alkuperäisteosta erinomaisen pikkutarkasti, mutta tuotannossa on vältetty kaikki ne ongelmat, jotka tekevät isosta osasta tuon aikakauden dödistä suht sietämättömän kuuloista puuroa. Vaikka soundit ovat monessa kohtaa lähes identtiset alkuperäiseen verrattuna, on mixi samaan aikaan tarpeeksi ilmava jotta kaikki elementit pääsevät tasapainoisesti esiin. Nykypäivän tuotantotekniikkaa ollaan hyödynetty myös lisäämällä kipaleisiin runsaasti pikku nyansseja sinne tänne, tavalla joka ysärin alkuhämärissä ei olisi tulleet kuuloonkaan. Mikäli sen ajan musiikissa tälläisiä koukkuja oli, ei niitä ainakaan valmiista masterista kuullut millään.
Mitenkäs sitten on biisien laita? Kuten jo mainittua, ne kunnioittavat alkuperäisteoksia melko pilkuntarkasti. Mukaan on valittu sekä aikansa jättiläisten tuotantoa, kuin myös marginaalisempaa osastoa. Tyylillisesti kaikki kontenderit ovat kuitenkin hyvin lähellä toisiaan, joten albumin kokonaisuus pysyy eheänä muutamaa pikku notkahdusta lukuunottamatta. Nämäkään notkahdukset eivät liity varsinaisiin cover-kipaleisiin, vaan enemmänkin niihin muutamaan yhtyeen omaan tuotokseen jotka mukaan on lisätty. Näistä sekä albumin intro, että loppupuoliskolla oleva The Invocation tuntuvat jotenkin turhilta töräyksiltä albumin kokonaisuudessa, ja albumin päättävä todella kummallinen Bone Fragments outro on suorastaan kamalaa kuultavaa. Onneksi nämä turhakkeet jäävät täysin kuriositeeteiksi albumin 11:sta loistavat coverin keskellä. Versioiduista yhtyeistä monet, kuten Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse, Bolt Thrower, Morbid Angel ja Obituary ovat melko itsestäänselviä valintoja tälläiseen konseptiin, mutta mukaan on ilahduttavasti mahdutettu myös kuriositeetimpaa tavaraa, kuten vaikkapa Morgoth, Grave taikka Pungent Stench. Albumin arvo piileekin juuri siinä, että se on alkuperäisesityksiä suunnattomasti siedettävämmän kuuloinen kokoelmapläjäys dödiksen alkutaipaleelle. Se toimii sekä ikäloppujen satanistien nostalgiatrippinä, että nykynuorison opintomateriaalina siihen, mistä kaikki tämä brutaalius on saanut alkunsa.
Death Devout on fantastiselta soundaava dokumentaatio vanhan koulukunnan mielenmaisemasta ja toimii virkistävänä nostalgiatirppinä kaltaisilleni, jotka olivat paikalla jo silloin, kun näitä albumeja odoteltiin levykaupan ulko-ovella kieli pitkällä. Nyt kesän kynnyksellä siitä tulee myös oivallinen rippilahja ignorentille ipanalle metallista sivistystä kartuttamaan. Muutamaa harha-askelta, pahimpana albumin outro, lukuunottamatta erittäin piristävä ja rautainen kokonaisuus.
https://metalliautisti.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/excommunicated-death-devout/
Not a lot of albums by a band are filled with covers only. Someetimes an EP or a re-release which features 2 or 3 bonus cover tracks, but Excommunicated decided to release a 16-cover tracks album, probably to honour their influences and tracks they like a lot. “They” are Excommunicated, a Death Metal band from the US that features members of Suture, Voracious Scourge, Fear Factory and Malignancy. Safe to say you’re dealing with an experienced bunch of fellas and it will probably not surprise you that this album is filled with lots of Old School Death Metal covers. You will hear Excommunicated version of Deicide’s “Lunatic of God’s Creation”, Obituary’s “Intoxicated”, Cemetary’s “Nightmare Lake”, Morgoth’s “Body Count” and Cannibal Corpse’s “Edible Autopsy”, just to name a few. So quite some first/second album tracks of Death Metal history, and I can only applaud such a collection. Ofcourse, every time you will probably think “the original is better”, but the covers are well played.
http://www.vm-underground.com/review/excommunicated-death-devout/
Apesar do que possa aparecer por aí na net, "Death Devout" não é o segundo álbum dos Excommunicated, apesar de ter a duração como tal. Trata-se de uma colecção de covers. Uma colecção de luxo, acrescente-se. E não optam por irem buscar os temas mais emblemáticos - tirando a óbvia "For God Your Soul, For Me Your Flesh" dos Pungent Stench ou "Lunatic Of God's Creation", já para não falar das escolhas de Morbid Angel (é também complicado escolher músicas dos primeiros álbuns dos Morbid Angel e não tropeçar nalgum clássico). De Morgoth a Samhain (a banda mais fora dos meandros do death metal) é uma colecção de clássicos que um fã de death metal deverá sentir no mínimo curiosidade.
Американская дэт-металлическая бригада судного дня. Сидит на тяжелом жанре с 10-го года. Создает музыку, от которой гвозди выпадают из кирпичных стен. Сверхлюди, которые сейчас исполняют в формации, играли во многих группах, если их перечислять всех, то как раз и закончится место, отведенное для этого отклика. Уже создавали альбом в 11 году, а сабж - это вторая обойма. На этом компакте то ли 14, то ли 16 трэков, каверов на композиции лучших групп мира (кстати и проверьте себя). Однако же тут есть и интро, одна внутренняя компо и аутро.
А так - вот перечень команд, которые откаверены. Morgoth, Grave, Cannibal Corpse, Cemetary, Pungent Stench, Napalm Death, Obituary, Deicide, Bolt Thrower Morbid Angel — этих две штуки, и еще два кавера, но только гипотетически, надо узнать поточнее. Сами видите список впечатляющ, массивен и уничтожающ, сначала я было думал писать про каждую песню, но вовремя одумался. И потому я постараюсь рассказать об общих впечатлениях от этого релиза.
Помнится, это Six Feet Under такие вещи очень успешно делали, да и многие до и после. Тут главное что? Новаторский подход(зачеркнуть), упорство, давление и хороший подбор исходного материала. Это во многом определяет успех такого рода дисков. Ну и аура исполнителей, решает половину вопроса. И вот как раз с личным обаянием у музыкантов все в норме. Посмотрел на архивах — некоторые из них такие волосатые реальные дядьки, как из фильмов про байкеров. К слову, среди приглашенных музыкантов, а есть и такие, - James Murphy - лидирующая гитара на "Intoxicated".
По чесноку беспокоился: сейчас как включат гитарный экскаватор и до конца - через 70 минут выключат. Но это не произошло. Гитарный экскаватор работал даже после выключения диска. А на самом деле музыканты отлично вживались в роль каждого исполнителя, которого каверили, кое-чего привносили своего, и бруталили по полной программе. С большим удовольствием проходишь эту антологию дэт-металла, как будто жизнь пронеслась перед глазами ( ну это же дэт металл!!!).
Трак один ребята потратили на какие-то григорианские песнопения, плюс колокольный далекий звон. Как много DOOM наводит он. Но все более DEATH. Там еще один проповедник произносит толковый спич на темы загробной жизни (мне так показалось). И задумка в том и состояла, что сейчас команда и покажет ее самую. Начали, как водится с Моргота... body count - счет тел.
Каждый трэк EXCOMMUNICATED создает как весьма плотное и трамбованное произведение, набитое четко структурированной стальной консистенцией. Рекомендую для прослушивания реал диск — ибо в этом густом металлоломном сиропе можно не только завязнуть, но и потеряться. В моем случае - прослушивания с диска, все отлично слышно, и по низким, и средним все инструменты звучат соразмерно, не создавая звуковую кашу. А это важно для такой музыки. Про звук, - инженеры отлично поработали по стереоэффектам, просто песец, давно не встречал такого - звуки уходят в сторону, локализуются не внутри колоночного совместного ареала, а вне. Серьезно.
В олдстайле решают ребята, да и сами оригиналы из мира олдскула, так что все по понятиям. И тут даже интереснее не то, насколько верифицируется тот или иной кавер с истинным трэком, а то как наша группа воспроизводит дух того времени. А уж это всегда пожалуйста... и выдает замечательный кавер Cannibal Corpse - Edible Autopsy. Но мне лично очень понравилась обработка великих Pungent Stench. Здесь не только сохраненная аура ужаса, боли и нездорового перфекционизма — маниакального, наверно, но и полное вживление в образ, возможно с одеванием кожи... этот кавер здесь - просто окровавленная жемчужина, выложенная на импозантных кишках.
Lunatic of God's Creation (Deicide cover) — ну к этой сюите мрака и озверения многие неравнодушны, и я просто не могу не написать эти буквы сюда.
Ну и про секреты этого диска... не помню, где я их нарыл, но вроде говорят что Bone Fragments (Outro) это ни что иное как Radio Hit (Anal Cunt cover) и Archangel (Samhain cover). Они в буклете не прописаны, но тайно привнесены в патологическую и без того атмосферу этого чудовищного диска.
https://vk.com/wall216331265_3509
First off, I must say I am not a fan of cover albums anymore. I'd rather stick to the originals than hear any stuff covered by a band. Then again, sometimes the bands and songs covered pick my curiosity...
American Death Metal torpedoes, Excommunicated, featuring Chad Kelly on growls, Bruno Muenzler on bass, Mike Heller on drums, Jonathan Joubert and Jason McIntyre on guitars (and bass in some of these songs), decided to put out a cover album instead of a release of their own material this time around (the band's debut album, Skeleton Key, was released in 2011). It should be mentioned that these lads have many other bands/projects on their merit list: Fear Factory, Suture, Satanist, Despondency etc., so we are talking about a bunch of experienced musicians who certainly know where they are coming from.
As for the covers, well, wow... just... wow! I actually am amazed by the decent treatment they have given the songs covered, which are some of their personal favorite tunes. Let these guys to cover your own Death Metal song next time if you want it to get suitable and respectful treatment. As much as they want these 16 covers to sound as close to the originals, they still put their twists into them, which is how a cover should be done in the very first place: add something of your own into them because it makes things a bit more interesting for everyone.
I have no intention of giving you a track-by-track analysis, so I'll only mention the ones that hit me like a 20.000-ton hammer. The first is Morgoth's "Body Count", in which Chad sounds deceptively like ex-Morgoth growler Marc Grewe. If I had heard this cover song on a radio, I would have said immediately, "hey this is fuckin' German Death Metallers Morgoth...". It sounds so close to the original version. Next is a cover of Napalm Death's "Inside the Torn Apart". I am warning you now... do not expect to hear it played faithfully because the song got a very experimental twist in the hands of these fellows. The end result sounds more like Fear Factory than Napalm Death, but you can still recognize the original song. The cover of Obituary's "Intoxicated" sounds really good to my ears, not having that muddy sound that original version has. Chad is also a pretty amazing guy in sheer aping: he sounds almost exactly like John Tardy in this cut. And when "Lunatic of God's Creation" kicks in, the song from Deicide's debut album, I was about to lose my marbles. The cover just rips your tongue out of your fuckin' mouth!
Talking about downright truly heavy shit, you've got the mighty Bolt Thrower's "World Eater", which destroys. Well done, Chad and co. Also, they do an absolutely killer job with the Morbid Angel song combo - "Day of Suffering" and "Blessed Are the Sick / Leading the Rats", which are some of the finest moments in the band's career. Is it Mr. Vincent behind the vocals here? Sounds much like it but, of course, he is not. Chad truly knows how to change the tone of his voice in order to sound someone else. What a vocal chameleon he truly is!
There are a couple of 'hidden songs', Anal Cunt's "Radio Hit" and Samhain's "Archangel", which unfortunately didn't do much for me (no matter how much I like Samhain), and I was wondering why on earth they even put them on here in the first place? Well, maybe they have their own reasons for doing so, but they don't fit here at all. But that's just my opinion.
End of this rant. Get this if you can, because most likely you won't find any better Death Metal covers album than this.
https://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/review.php?revid=10836
Formed out of the ashes of several prominent local death metal bands (Suture, Catholicon, Despondency) Excommunicated is a Louisiana-based old school death metal quintet. The band is a potent cohesion of the various influences and styles of it’s members. They have been around for more than eight years now. Nearly seven years after their strong debut Skeleton Key was released, Excommunicated returns with a massive collection of classics mainly carefully chosen from the early golden age of death metal. Thus, Death Devout is an all-covers album similar to the Six Feet Under’ Graveyard Classics series.
Death Devout features some of the great songs and more or less a whole track-list (a total of 16 songs) here is amazing, since they chose to cover songs from incredible bands such as Morgoth, Grave, Cannibal Corpse, Cemetary, Pungent Stench, Napalm Death, Obituary, Deicide, Bolt Thrower, Morbid Angel and Anal Cunt & Samhain, although I must say that some of them are great and perfectly executed, while others are obscure (Napalm Death’ “Inside The Torn Apart”) and should never be there in the first place.
The vocals are really amazing here, best exemplified in the opening “Excommunicated And Anathema (Intro)”. Chad Kelly is a classic and extreme black/death vocalist, but on this opus his spoken-word vocals do him biggest favor. Both guitarists are doing an impressive job too paying homage to the great guitarists in the bands that they cover here. Drumming is also good and intense, but sometimes too prominent in their overall sound. Mix and production is not perfect, just solid. Sometimes it feels as some of the instruments (esp. a lack of bass frequencies) get buried in the mix, but it is still a listenable and enjoyable experience.
Excommunicated is paying a great respect to classic and original songs, but they also manage to make them personal and with their own unique approach, while throwing in a vicious blast beats and other parts which were never on the original songs! My favorite tracks from Death Devout are namely, “Body Count (Margoth cover)” and the Cannibal Corpse cover of “Edible Autopsy” which is simply amazing!
It’s always a risky business to release an album filled with covers only, but I think Excommunicated has done a decent job with this sophomore and untraditional release. Death Devout is a real fun listen recommended for fans of old school death metal and the bands mentioned above.
https://www.metal-revolution.com/reviews/excommunicated-death-devout
Louisiana death metal act who manage to cover all sorts of classic bands
and easily recognizable to beloved tracks of the death metal canon…and
make them all sound the same with a generic sound and lousy vocals.
Seriously, they cover everything from Deicide, Morbid Angel and
Obituary (they even get James Murphy to guest solo) to Grave,
Morgoth and Pungent Stench…hell, they even did a Cemetary cover!…
…and yet, as awesome as this sounds on paper (with no real exceptions,
it’s an “all covers” affair), the execution, while technically “competent
enough”, leaves all these disparate, still regularly played bands
sounding…the same, and kinda boring.
HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO DO THAT?
(shakes head in utter disbelief)
Well, props for good taste in covers – even a lot of the songs chosen
were excellent picks.
Too bad the execution thereof sapped everything special and exciting
straight out of ’em all.
Excommunicated have been around for 8 years and in that time, released a comp in 2011 and their debut full-length in 2011 Skeleton Key. After quite some time Chad Kelly said F-this, I cannot continue to keep eating po-boys all the time, in Louisiana, let’s put something out. Putting down the huge sandwiches, Chad picked up the mic again. You got, Bruno Muenzler on bass, Mike Heller on drums, Jonathan Joubert and Jason McIntyre on guitar. A conglomeration of members from Suture, Voracious Scourge, Azure Emote-I could go on, a lot of killer acts!
Death Devout is a covers album, with a total of 16 songs with some obscure covers, but nonetheless very cool. The Samhain cover is neat. The Morgoth cover of “Body Count” sounds quite excellent. Chad doing a spot on impression of Marc Grewe. It’s quite amazing. What do I always say about covers??? Make them your own and Excommunicated does just that. They throw in a vicious blast beat, which was never on the original song and it really is done well. Paying great respect to classic song, but also mixing things up. The Cannibal Corpse cover of “Edible Autopsy” is amazing and this happens to be my favorite song off of Eaten Back to Life. The band captures the essence and power of this track. The cymbals are a bit loud on this song. Regardless, the mix is spot on with the bass guitar and guitar work. Again Excommunicated mix up some blast beats, which were never on the original. How does Chad Kelly do these spot on impressions??? He sounds like Barnes-it’s truly freaky. The monster blast beats are super freaking tight!!
Deicide’s “Lunatic of God’s Creation” comes equipped with some nice layered vocal/reverb laced vocals, sounding like Benton and again the band captures the sound, but makes it their own, by injecting intensity and class. Guitar work is fantastic on this track and very fast picking and Heller is blasting the hell out of the drums. “World Eater” from Bolt Thrower sounds monstrous. Excellent mix to the song. Nice killer fast part at the 4.20 part and the drums are done well, because this section onward tends to get a bit complicated a bit, but Excommunicated pull it off. Again it pays true respect to one of the best death metal songs ever written.
Other highlights are Morbid Angel’s “Day of Suffering”, one of the best Morbid songs ever, easily. Brutally fast, heavy and Chad sounding like he is harnessing David Vincent, circa ’90-bloody brilliant. They return to Morbid Angel, Blessed are the Sick era again with the title track off that album. Grave’s “And Here I Die…Satisfied”, is monstrously freaking heavy and will hit you like a ton of bricks over and over again. Napalm Death’s “Inside the Torn Apart” is a bit obscure to cover. Rather than going for a classic grind tune, Excommunicated selects a Napalm tune, during their experimental stage, but they do it pretty freaking awesome. So there you have it. Honestly I am not a covers album fan. When bands tack on a cover song or 2 on an album, I enjoy that. Albums like this, when not done well, can really have the opposite effect then what they were really were intended for. Excommunicated does a remarkable job with all the covers and inject their own originality to the songs, while still being respectful to the original. Death Devout is a real fun listen. Great job gentlemen!!
https://www.teethofthedivine.com/reviews/excommunicated-death-devout/
Cover versions. Some of them are great, some are not and some are pure atrocities. So, the result of releasing an album filled solely with covers is always a risky move. And North American Black / Death Metal outfit EXCOMMUNICATED has made such a risky move with their sophomore album, "Death Devout". And this time, it came out pretty good. The tracklist here is amazing, since they chose to cover songs from incredible bands such as NAPALM DEATH, DEICIDE, GRAVE, CANNIBAL CORPSE, MORBID ANGEL, BOLT THROWER and even ANAL CUNT and SAMHAIN. These last two actually work perfectly. The vocals are really good. Chad Kelly is constantly morphing into all the classic extreme vocalists showcased here. Guitarists Jonathan Joubert and Jason McIntyre pay homage to these great bands in an impressive way. And even though his instrument is a little buried in the mix, you can listen to Bruno Muenzler's bass guitar pounding, specially in the heavier cuts such as BOLT THROWER's 'World Eater' and OBITUARY's 'Intoxicated'. Now, onto the production. It is solid, although it varies throughout the album. In some of the songs, there is a lack of bass frequencies. Maybe the bass guitar should have been louder. The guitars are pushed back a tad too much for my taste or maybe the place where the guitar sound sits in the mix is not the optimal. Also, the drums are constantly battling the guitars and bass. I mean, Mike Heller's performance is great, but the drums become so prominent that I had to take a break like 4 or 5 songs into the album. This time EXCOMMUNICATED got away with it. They gave these songs their own twist, but keeping the spirit and the atmosphere of the originals. Any respected Death metal fan should go ahead and give them a listen. I can assure you that you will be pleasantly surprised as much I was.
http://www.voicesfromthedarkside.de/Albums-EPs-Demos/E/EXCOMMUNICATED--11739.html
Oh, cool, a CD full of nice surprises starting from the band's line-up which features drummer Mike Heller from Fear Factory, Raven or Malignancy among others, and ending with the composition of the new material: all tracks, or most of them to be precise, are cover versions of some of the best Death Metal classic tracks spawned at the end of the '80's - early / mid '90's. Chad's (Excommunicated's vocalist) story featured in the CD booklet explains it all and is such a fine proof of Death Metal devotion most of us who lived those days will get nice memories reading it. This was intended to be a cover of Morgoth's Cursed album in its entirety, but it ended up featuring 16 covers of tracks from such bands as: Napalm Death, Grave, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Obituary, Bokt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse and others, all fantastic gifts for OSDM fanatics, it even features a guitar solo by James Murphy on the Obituary's Intoxicated cover version. Beside the Death Metal covers the album features a couple of Horror Ambient inserts by Cernunnos from Hæresiarchs Of Dis and two covers of non Death Metal artists Anal Cunt and Samhain which I don't know and don't understand the purpose of. Anyway, the band states that a followup album with other Death Metal classics is possible in the future and I hope they'll do more, and also that it's possible they'll go for a Black Metal classics, too. Cool, recommended material, a nice tribute to the gods of Death Metal.
http://pestwebzine.com/index/excommunicated_death_devout/0-2029
Käsi pystyyn, jos kuulut siihen joukkoon, joka fanittaa Chris Barnesin ja Six Feet Underin cover-levyjä sinisin silmin. Siinä tapauksessa nimittäin myös jenkkiläisen Excommunicated-yhtyeen kakkoslevy Death Devout lienee juuri Sinun heiniäsi.
En tiedä mikä järki on siinä, että alta kymmenen vuoden ikäinen, käytännössä tuntematon death metal -bändi tekee jo toisena levynään levyllisen deathmetallicovereita. Ei sillä, versioitava bändikattaus on kova: Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Grave, Bolt Thrower, Obituary ja niin edelleen. Mutta mitä arvoa tällä coveroinnilla on, jää minulle mysteeriksi. Tai ei oikeastaan jää, sillä vastaus on: ei mitään.
Death Devout on käytännössä kuolonmetalliklassikoiden kokoelma, jossa käydään läpi kulmakiviosaston kuolonmetallia ja pääpainotteisesti jenkkiläistä sellaista. Muut maat ovat mukana vai mausteina. Mitään erityisen eksoottista ja harvinaisempaa materiaalia ei käydä läpi, vaan jo tunnettuja ja tunnustettuja klassikoita. Valinta on kaupalliselta kannalta fiksu, muttei järin kiinnostava. Eihän tämä ole kuin askeleen päässä siitä, että hevibändi coveroisi levyllään Metallicaa, Iron Maidenia ja Black Sabbathia.
Death Devout on käytännössä hyvin tehty. Soundit ovat raskaat ja selkeät, örinälaulukin toimii. Mitään uutta ja ihmeellistä levy ei kuitenkaan tarjoa. Biisit ovat alkuperäisjulkaisuillaan parempia ja kontekstiin sidottuja. Tässä yhteydessä ne ovat irtonaisia, joskin hyviä vetoja sieltä ja täältä. Loppu tosin pilataan 11 minuutin outrolla, joka tarjoaa jonkinlaista potpuria ilmeisesti yli jääneistä ideoista. Se on toteutustaan myöten turhaa kuonaa.
Tällaisen levyn arvottaminen arvosanalla on vaikeaa. Yhtäältä itse biisimateriaali on hyvää ja laadukasta, mutta toisaalta kyse on kuitenkin vain covereista. Vaikka itse biisit ansaitsivat viittä tähteä hipovan kokonaisarvosanan, julkaisuna Death Devout on turha ja siten myös ala-arvoinen suoritus. Lopullinen arvosana kuvastaakin näiden ääripäiden keskiarvoa. Tai jotain.
https://www.impe.fi/reviews/1/19262
Sabe quando você decide prestar uma bela homenagem as suas bandas preferidas, aquelas bandas que fizeram você decidir montar uma banda e fazer aquele som que você tanto ama, é como se você voltasse a ter 15 anos novamente, isso é muito divertido,é sensacional.
Você é um aficcionado no death metal e no grindcore dos anos 90, covers de algumas das suas bandas preferidas estão aqui nesse cd, imagine só uma banda lança um cd com covers muito bem feitos, muito bem executados de bandas lendárias como: Morgoth, Grave, Cannibal Corpse, Pungent Stench, entre outros grandes nomes.
As lendas nunca morrem, grandes bandas merecem ser lembradas por toda a eternidade por seu legado,por sua obra. Excommunicated está de parabéns por tijolada no crânio, se você realmente gosta do som extremo da melhor década de todas, a década de 90, não deixe de conferir esse petardo.
https://questoeseargumentos.blogspot.com/2019/06/resenha-excommunicated-death-devout.html
Excommunicated band of death black metal originating from USA present us their disc Death Devout almost in its entirety a disc of covers of 2018. Remember that this band has a theme of the dark history of the Catholic church that is what their lyrics are about and so is the intro of that album. A theme of protest quite original to this sector of society, and DD is a record where you hear many choirs and you imagine in the church but a damn good. A voice that reminds you of the first Malevolent Creation and a music that is primarily death metal but with black influence. Excommunicated is: Mike Heller Drums Bruno Muenzler Bass Jonathan Joubert Guitars, Bass Jason McIntyre Guitars, Bass Chad Kelly Vocals Active since 2010 and supported by the label UW Records, they bring us this album of 2018 that only edited 500 copies and started with themes such as: Excommunicate and Anathema Body Count (Morgoth cover) And Here I Die ... Satisfied (Grave cover) Edible Autopsy (Cannibal Corpse cover) Nightmare Lake (Cemetary cover) For God Your Soul, For Me Your Flesh (Pungent Stench cover) Inside the Torn Apart (Napalm Death cover) Quite good and quality each version, giving an original and interesting touch to each versioned theme. We continue the madness and insanity with: Intoxicated (Obituary cover) Lunatic of God's Creation (Deicide cover) World Eater (Bolt Thrower cover) The Invocation Day of Suffering (Morbid Angel cover) Blessed Are the Sick / Leading the Rats (Morbid Angel cover) Theme after theme sounds brutal since they chose very classic pieces from each band and they sound with an excellent quality. It is followed by an outro to close with two themes of the legendary: Anal Cunt and Samhain. Bone Fragments (Outro) Radio Hit (Anal Cunt cover) Archangel (Samhain cover) If you like covers and you follow death metal, do not miss this album.
https://thelegionoftchortzine.blogspot.com/2019/08/excommunicated-usa.html
Realmente no es usual que una banda lance como segundo disco un álbum de covers. Normalmente este tipo de trabajos son para cuando la creatividad no aparece, para terminar contratos o directamente para despuntar el vicio, pero nunca como segundo trabajo discográfico. En fin, como sea, este quinteto de death metal de la vieja escuela con sede en Louisiana presenta algunas de las grandes canciones que han hecho historia en el metal de la muerte, y rinde homenaje a varios de los máximos exponentes del género.
Este tipo de experimentos no siempre sale bien, pero Excommunicated se maneja con gran respeto a los originales, pero también logran hacerlas personales y con su propio enfoque único.
En síntesis, todo fan del death metal que se precie de serlo debería conseguir este álbum. RECOMENDADO.
https://rockarollazine.blogspot.com/2019/06/excommunicated-death-devout-2018.html
The very first thing that struck me when seeing this one was how much the logo made my mind wander towards Entombed. It is strange how certain things keep redirecting thoughts in certain ways. I didn’t really realize that this is basically a cover collection until I took a close look at the track list. and I gotta say that the choice they have made is like a mix tape I could have put together. From German Morgoth to Morbid Angel. From Grave to Cemetery. From Deicide to Obituary. And then some more. This is one hell of a cover album. I am totally in awe over the choices and EXCOMMUNICATED’s versions. In deed some really cool stuff.
http://battlehelm.com/reviews/excommunicated-death-devout/
Wie der Phoenix aus der Asche? Excommunicated wurde geformt aus Mitgliedern regionaler Bands Louisiana`s wie Suture, Katholicon, Despondency und hat sich dem Death-Metal der alten Schule verschrieben. Diesen und anderen Größen der Szene huldigten sie hier mit diesem Coveralbum aus dem Jahre 2018, davor veröffentlichten sie ihr Debütalbum “Skeleton Key” im Jahre 2011. Für mich stellt sich immer die Frage warum covert man, wenn man doch musikalisch und spielerisch das Potential hat, eigene Alben zu veröffentlichen? Nun gut, es sei so.
Jede Menge Klassiker sind hier vertreten. Speziell habe ich mir aber Obituary, 2 x Morbid Angel und Bolt Thrower angehört. Wer John Tardy, David Vincent und Karl Willetts gesanglich kennt der weiß (die hier vertretenen Coverversionen stammen aus ihrer Ära), dass sie stimmlich vokalistisch markant hervorstechen. Alle vier Tracks klingen in der Excommunicated Interpretation gelungen, besonders die beiden von Morbid Angel. Trotzdem: Cover bleibt Cover – Original ist Original und daher kann ich mich generell nicht mit solchen Dingen anfreunden, also nicht nur hier. Ein eigenes Album des Quintetts wäre für mich weitaus interessanter gewesen. Egal, das Album wird seine Freunde finden, aber mich konnte es aufgrund der oben erwähnten Punkte nicht gewinnen.
Fazit: Für mich war dies leider nichts, aber für Freunde von Interpretationen oder Coverversionen ist es vielleicht schon eher etwas.
https://www.hellfire-magazin.de/excommunicated-death-devout/