CD Review
The interestingly named Djevara (pronounced “JEV-UH-RAH” – you have to shout it) play a noisy, intense style of metal that is their own, and a pleasing listen it is, too. The sound seems distinctly British and fits in with a wealth of ‘alt-rock’ bands that never really sit that comfortably in one genre or another (not even the alt-rock genre – easy point of reference because ‘alt’ is such a coverall) and flirt with a multitude. So whilst there is a, dare I say, nu-metal influence this is certainly not nu-metal.
The album comes screaming in with a typical metal machine gun double kicks and vocal chords screamed raw. The same sort of intro made so familiar by the likes of Pantera in The Great Southern Trendkill or Slayer in numerous numbers. It’s a good intro but the band quickly gets funky and makes clear that have a sound of their own.
There is an element of the dreaded nu-metal in this, there is also an element of extreme metal, punk and alt-rock and any other music genre based around a rather heavy sound. A majority of the sound seems to be based around funk metal sound (not as bad as it sounds if you pick the right bands), which may be slightly indebt to Living Colour. This is not to say that they’re a one trick pony or they’re just nicking someone else’s sound. They have a unique sound that is their own but not 100 miles away from familiarity.
The production has a great edgy and intense sound. The album is very loud and bursts with energy. A lot of the edge of the album seems comes from the sound of the vocals – sung for moments, but mostly a stretched scream that has a brilliant sound that might be natural distortion through being recorded too loud. This adds a brilliant edge of the seat, exciting energy to it. The lyrics maybe slightly lost in the production in it but perhaps it was worth it for the sound of them.
The band sound is great, too. The drummer sounds fantastic and the guitar has some interesting but never too-technical moments. A lot of the riffs and the way they’re played suggest that Djevara are perhaps one of the few heavy bands that can play heavy stuff that doesn’t seem horribly cheesy and over-done.
There are a few negatives, as with everything: songs can get a bit lengthy, one or two riffs don’t seem to lead anywhere and the album comes in at 53 minutes and is quite an intense ride so, after a few songs, a bit of a lie down to put some more ambient, relaxing music on is a pleasing an idea.
The, eventually, intense song 600 Years of Your Civilisation and My People Still Live in Poverty is an example of some of the lengthiness of the album. It takes over a minute to get anywhere after the introduction of the initial riff. It is good when it gets going, but it does take over half a minute of some seemingly aimless doodling.
Another problem with the songs being lengthy is that it takes a conscious effort to make sure the later songs get a listening too. The sound is never a relaxing one, either. It’s certainly exciting and energising to listen to yet with some of the aimless light riffage, it feels like some of it could be trimmed to make more of it as instantly enjoyable as the first two or three songs. The first two songs are great, but it calms down a bit after that, which is a shame. I think the whole album would have been brilliant if some fat had been trimmed to make the whole album a sharp experience that finished before the listener really wanted it to, but there is some fat here and it is a bit lengthy. But at least it’s a mostly interesting, worthwhile 54 minutes.
This album can be great listen. An intense, interesting, individualistic band playing their brand of heavy, and feels like it has a point to it. The length of some of it is made up for it by the bulk of the songs and riff. It is good to know there is still be a bit of vibrancy, urgency and inspiration out there.
4/5
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