DeVicious
Black Heart

As it happens, I have been following DeVicious since their debut Never Say Never that was released in 2018. Since then, they have released two more albums, and soon the fourth one Black Heart will see the light of day. I must add that it is not by choice I have followed this band, but because of my role for the webzine as none of the previous albums have been particularly impressive. They have three catchy, nice, ordinary, melodic rock albums in the catalogue. This time they release their most original, their freshest, heaviest, angriest, etc., album so far. And like that isn’t enough they will also release a series of comic albums starring the figures on the artwork and from the singles. So, perhaps this is the time when a promising catchiness turns into something more interesting.

At first glance there isn’t much that sets this one apart from its predecessors, but I soon notice that it is a lot heavier, but also more diverse and dramatic sounding than the previous three albums. The singer sounds better, and unlike so many in the genre they manage to get a great flow through all the songs, most AOR and melodic rock tend to have a bit disjointed songs where choruses and verses are separate entities, but not this one. For once the press sheet doesn’t lie, this is their freshest and most original release, and it is their heaviest. I think this balance between the extremely catchy and melodic and the heavy stuff is a strong feat of this album, and along with good variation the reason 52 minutes feels like 33.

This album is great, they finally manage to make something great and fresh. Maybe this stoppage due to the coronavirus was beneficial to them as this additional time seems to have worked wonders for the quality of their music and creativity. They have much better vocals than before, and they have a collection of songs that makes one want to listen. It is an infectiously catchy album with excellent sounds and great power, an album that makes you take notice, all tracks have hit potential and it is quite difficult to pick a favourite – on my part it depends on the song I am listening to, my favourite right now is Not What it Seems as it is the one that is playing when I write this sentence, it used to be the title track.

I haven’t disliked the previous albums by DeVicious, but none of them has been albums I have played after the work with them was done, I am quite sure this will be different and that I will play this one quite often in the future as well. I don’t think you can go wrong with an album like this, it is too good for anyone to dislike. Why don’t you check it out? You will not regret it.

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