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Saturday, 05 May 2007 |
Hailing from Holland, Non-Divine have the necessary chops to pull off the power metal sound without either overdoing it or undermining it.
Non-Divine prove themselves as songwriters with full-on metal ditties like “One man, one soul” and “Breathe” and groove-laden songs like “In shame” not to mention a nod to gothic metal with “Sleep” with great Zak Wylde -like guitarlicks and the more eased back “Sympathy” and the acoustic “Love loss” all showcasing the many sides of the band. The band itself puts emphasis on melody and musicianship without all the bullshit aggression plaguing metal mainstream acts, The songs are mid paced and have that epic sound to them, but they never go too far into cliché territory or veer too far away from the classic genre sound a la Metallica , Alice In Chains, Queensryche, Pantera,… Vocalist Ivor van Beek has a little of the Fear Factory's Burton C. Bell sound, but at a more melodic tone and at times a bit more menacing than James Hetfield . Backing vocals are used to accentuate the melodies throughout the choruses. Keyboards are used effectively and never overused. Ruben Biets is a real talented drummer, and along with everybody else in the band, real soulful metal is brought to the table without any screaming cheese factor or real commercial connotations.
This is certainly a ‘pretty easy to drive these songs into your head'-album that rises above the huge flood of mediocre metal bands out there. Asylum 45 is not a masterpiece, there is room for improvement, but it is a highly recommended debut..
87/100
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