Deville – Heavy Lies The Crown

 

 

Deville – Heavy Lies The Crown
Sixteentimes Music – 2022
Rock, Hard, Stoner, Southern, Metal
Rated: *****

Hitting the world in heavy and full swing next week is the new album by Swedish quartet Deville. It’s called Heavy Lies The Crown and is the follow-up to that mighty Pigs With Gods album from 2018. And just to mention all those records they released before that, to show their great body of work, let’s sum them all up: Make It Belong To Us from 2015, Hydra from 2013, Hail The Black Sky in 2009 and Come Heavy Sleep in 2007. Indeed, the Swedes got together in 2004 and are approaching their 20 years of making heavy rock together. There has been some changing of the guard of course, during those decades, but vocalist, guitarist, Andreas Bengtsson is still there and the obvious focus point with his gruff, gritty, and highly recognizable vocals. During those years the sound morphed, progressed, and tried all sort of different attitudes, but one thing was always there: ballsy, no holds barred, highly energetic heavy rock! And well, Heavy Lies The Crown brings that trusted Deville sound, but once again, with quite a few extra touches here and there. Opener No Sun bursts out of the gate with a definite agenda to fill your being with that stoner metal sound, the way it cuts away when the vocals start and then goes full volume after the first lines is of course expertly done. No Sun will take no prisoners, and will surely have you headbanging, drumming or air guitaring along. It will have you on the edge of your seat anxious to hear the rest of the album. Second track and single Killing Time brings even more metal and wild percussion, Hands Tied, gives you a more stonerrock 2002 era sound and Serpent Days, gives a wide-open sounding metal landscape that seems to pass by slower than the tracks that came before, giving you some air and some light, although the ending turns pretty intense and claustrophobic again. But it’s fifth track Embrace that will undoubtedly have you floored. The way they approach the King Buffalo sound from a stoner metal take, the way they implore the progressive touch, the early stonerrock sound in one track, the addition of Andeas Wulkan as vocalist is simply stunning. Heavy Lies The Crown is Deville’s pandemic album, the one they recorded when the world stopped turning and the band had to stop touring. It resulted in many of the tracks being fleshed out by the different members before they passed the bar and were allowed to be recorded, which makes me wonder who was responsible for the Embrace track the most and for that final track Pray For More. Cause even though the entire album is filled with amazing hooks, grooves, and riffs abundant, those two tracks stand out the most. Pray For More, chugs away relentlessly, on a different level, riding those tracks like a monstrous freight train, and with the soaring lead and less gruff vocal lines, ambitious and almost opts for grandiose and gloriously appealing. And such sweet surrender and temptation will surely make you Pray For More…

(Written by JK)

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