Monday, May 5, 2014

Light The Torch (ex-Devil You Know) - The Beauty of Destruction (2014)

Another super band? Oh boy, that is just what the metal community needed... not really. Anyway, the band was created in 2012 by the drummer John Sankey (Fear Factory, Divine Heresy) and guitarist Francesco Artusato (All Shall Perish). They were later joined by Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage), Ryan Wombacher (Bleeding Through) and Roy Lev-Ari (Hiss of Atrocities).

When I am reading the line-up, I am trying to figure out what type of music these guys will offer us. My first thought was that it would be some kind of heavy metal core, which later on proved to be right. "The Beauty of Destruction" is filled several heavy parts, especially in the guitar work, but it is blended together with catchy and melodic song structures that appeals to the radio stations. It doesn't surprise me that Devil You Know is more Killswitch Engage than All Shall Perish, but I would have expected something more original from these experienced musicians.

The music itself is not overly impressive, but it has it strong points. The epic and heavy "It's Over" is the most original and interesting piece in the entire album, while "A Mind Insane" impresses with its doomish segments and complete insanity. But the album also has some good mainstream quality in songs like "Seven Years Alone" and "For The Dead And Broken". This makes "The Beauty of Destruction" into a well diverse album that does not get boring to listen to.

The overall quality however is far too unstable to be taken seriously. Boring tunes like "A New Beginning" and "Crawl From The Dark" are being mixed with more interesting tracks like "The Killer" and I Am The Nothing", which in the end makes me loose the interest on the album. I know that these guys are experienced, so it shouldn't be such a problem to expect a stable album from them. But it seems like the band does not really know where they want to go with their music. Do they want to go mainstream or do they instead want to focus on creating heavy and innovative music? That is a question that must be answered before the next album if they want to continue this project.

I agree with Devil You Know that destruction can be beautiful, however "The Beauty of Destruction" is far from the prettiest album released this year. It has some good intentions that gives some hope for this project in the future, but just like any other super band, it falls in comparison with the member's past/current main bands. Devil You Know is one of the better "super" bands that has emerged during the 21st century, unfortunately, that does not say much about their overall quality within the band, even though "The Beauty of Destruction" is a promising debut.

Songs worthy of recognition: A Mind Insane, Seven Years Alone, It's Over

Rating: 7/10 Killers

twitter.com/LTTorchBand

More reviews of Light The Torch
The Beauty of Destruction

They Bleed Red

Revival

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