Deviator - Way Of Warriors - Hymn Of Immortals

This is another black metal release, from the cold depths of the Ukraine. This time, it's one-man entity Deviator. This has been released by Glorious North Productions and this review marks the third and final release of theirs that I've reviewed. The entity I was referring to is Lord Hastner, who plays all instruments.

Tracklist:-

1. Old Melancholy
2. Forgotten Hope
3. The Last Day Of Mankind
4. Might Black Inner Flame
5. Mesmirized By Blood
6. Raw Symphony Of Sorrow
7. Undying Darkness
8. To Forgotten Path - Triumph Of The Will
9. Thy Blood In My Veins
10. Black Sorrow
11. Funeral Future Bells
12. Primordial Darkness p. 1 (Ginnungagap)
13. Primordial Darkness p. 2 (Audhumbla)
14. Way Of Warriors - Hymn To Immortals

The record starts with the song Old Melancholy, which plays host to some very stirring piano. Forgotten Hope starts with some really interesting guitar riffs, which sound really clean which you wouldn't expect from a black metal song. The chanting, which can just be heard in the background, is a nice touch. So far, this album seems to be very upbeat, but don't let that fool you!

Third song The Last Day Of Mankind is where things take an evil turn, with plenty of double bass and buzzing riffs, as Lord Hastner's vocals come in over the top. This is definitely more brutal and incorporates death metal touches in its instrumentation and an old school production that adds great character to the music. Mighty Black Inner Flame is a seven-minute blast of pure rage, but with a nice ambient touch to it. The pummelling drums certainly keep everything in check underneath those mesmerising strands of guitar.

Mesmirized In Blood is full of blood curdling screams and the howling, barking wolves in the background add to the grimness on display. Raw Symphony of Sorrow mixes doom inspired riffs with thrashy refrains which add variation and heft to Deviator's sound and after a while it creates a trance like atmosphere that hangs in the air. The song itself is an instrumental song, which sounds like the kind of music you'd lead troops to battle with. The closing minute of the song feature falling rain and distant melodies that slowly die away.

Undying Darkness contains Ukrainian spoken word that morphs into more possessed screams, this time from Moloch's Sergiy. The instrumentation is buried beneath the maddening screams and whispered vocals and is truly terrifying. To Forgotten Path - Triumph Of The Will and Thy Blood In My Veins pass in a whirlwind of fuzzy guitars riffs and top-notch percussion. The vocals in Thy Blood In My Veins sound as though Lord Hastner is being tortured from inside. It's full of grim and dark emotion, which usually doesn't come across in the genre of music.

As the record moves into it's second half, the music becomes more atmospheric and experimental, like the gentle whispered words on Black Sorrow that bring a sense of solitude to the listener. Funeral Future Bells incorporates haunting strings into the melee as well, to add an extra sense of foreboding to the music.

The two-part journey that is Primordial Darkness is a cold harrowing one. Part 1 is the longest song on the album, at over 9 minutes in length. It's a really atmospheric and well-played piece of instrumental black metal. There are subtle hints of melody within the driving guitar and drumming that enslaves most of the song. The songs ends with some cool sporadic jazzy piano and atonal feedback, before heading into Part 2, which is another slab of instrumental metal.

The last song on the record is also the title track. The breath of creativity on this final track is brilliant and brings in ideas and influences from across the rest of the album. It's a really listenable song and a great ending to a record, which again has surprised me greatly. Thanks to this and the other two GNP releases I've reviewed, my view of Black metal has been changed for the better and I hope I can now go and discover more great acts and records. If you know of any, please comment here or via my Facebook page.

I can now fully begin to appreciate Black metal for it's music alone and not have to worry about the theatrical image portrayed by some of it's so called leaders. I'm not cvlt, but then I don't feel I need to be as recent experiences have shown me that to appreciate Black metal is to appreciate true music.

You can hear sample song - Undying Darkness, via the Glorious North Productions website at http://www.gloriousnorth.co.uk/media, where this record is available for purchase, plus you can visit Deviator's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/DeviatorOfficial for more news and music.