Devanation is a 4 piece metal outfit from the San Francisco Bay Area. Their new Faithbreaker EP is now available on iTunes.
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We recently spoke with Jake from Defiler who gave us an update on the future of the band and details about the upcoming record.
You can check out an exclusive update from Defiler regarding their plans for the immediate future after the jump
Jake Pelzl of Defiler was kind enough to send over his list of Top Albums of 2014. Keep checking back for more lists by band/industry folk.
Defiler have released a two-part music video for the songs "The Lazarus Sign" and "Hollow Bastion". It can be viewed below along with their upcoming tour dates
Eyal Levi is a critically acclaimed guitarist, composer, producer, and engineer. He moved to Orlando, Florida in 2010 where he joined forces with Jason Suecof (Trivium, Chimaira) and Mark Lewis (Deicide, DevilDriver) at Audiohammer Studios. He'll be teaching an Advanced Drum Production class on creativeLIVE on January 16th, 2014. This episode sponsored by Squarespace, Audible, and Ting.
Before next year’s tours, Defiler are hoping to hit the studio to bring you all something completely new - but not without your help!
3 years ago, we released the “Cryomancer” video. Since then, we’ve done some incredible things . We’ve released two albums, met and played with some of our favorite bands, and traveled to amazing places.
All while constantly writing music for everyone to hear.
We’re sitting on some of the best material we’ve ever written, and we want to release it NOW, in the form of an EP. But, we want to make sure we do this right, at a proper studio, with an awesome producer (this will also mark the first time that we work with one.)
Tired of hearing the same, old love songs this Valentine’s Day? This list is for all the guys/gals flying solo this time of the year.
1. Exodus - No Love
2. Killswitch Engage - My Curse
3. Pantera - This Love
4. Bon Jovi - You Give Love a Bad Name
5. Atreyu - Ex’s & Oh’s
6. Like Moths To Flames - You Won’t Be Missed
7. Defiler - Cryomancer
8. Emmure – 10 Signs You Should Leave
9. Parkway Drive - Romance Is Dead
10. Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
Defiler vocalist Jake Pelzl takes us through the band’s new record, Nematocera. Preorder the album (if you haven’t already) and read the descriptions below.
Lucky 38
I wrote the music and lyrics to this track in jail - I wrote down a little key for each pattern and note and scribbled down the lyrics. It was basically my testament to take over the world as soon as I was out - and to explain to everyone that there is much, much more to us than Cryomancer.
The Regulators
This one is different. The music is almost reminiscent of a hard rock track. It’s very verse/chorus driven, and then the end of the track completely explodes with an eerie lead over a crushing breakdown.
Octobortion
This song deals with making really fucking hard decisions that could greatly impact your life, and the consequences that follow. One path can take you toward redemption, and another, darker path, can lead to temporary satisfaction, but a horrible aftermath.
Movin’ On Up the Nation’s Chain
I love this song. It speaks from the perspective of someone going up against a myriad of tough obstacles in their life, and reaching a point where determination alone isn’t enough, and they feel like they know they won’t come out on top. But they keep going because they know they have no other choice.
Brick Killed a Guy
It’s about the hypothesized technological singularity that could befall our race someday soon - and my personal interpretation of how it could happen. It’s spoken from the remorseful vantage point of the humans responsible, and the perspective switches to the artificial intelligence towards the end.
Walk In The Glow
This track is special, and contains a lot of the different elements showcased throughout Nematocera. It has the heavy, pummeling verses with the melancholy, harmonized leads under it - the technical bridge with crazy guitar patterns - and the melodic choruses with clean vocals and a driving, spooky hook.
The Subway
Straight up love song. I wrote this about my girlfriend like two years ago, and knew it would be a very different element that I was excited to add into the slew of emotions on the album.
Elmo St Peters
You know how everyone calls us Deathcore? Well, this entire song was written without using one open note on the lowest string (the breakdown in the song is actually on the 2nd.) and the riffs in this song almost remind me of something Rise Against would play. It’s the poppiest track on the album.
Iconoclast
An expansion on the idea behind lucky 38, this track is me basically explaining that you can try to pick us apart until the cows come home you will never fucking know who we are.
Twinrova
In the Zelda franchise, Twinrova is the sorceress of fire and ice. That’s what this track is. It spans many different feelings and vibes. There’s a very somber, longing clean vocal line that opens and closes the track, and I think fans will love it.
Nuclear Anomaly
My personal favorite, this one closes the book of Pangaea. It is me finally letting go of all the demons that fucked with me back then, and laughing about how much I love my life now.
Metamora
Straight up brutal mosh. This was a song where we wanted everyone who was still standing to really hit the fucking floor.
Nematocera
The instrumental title track is one of the most interesting points of the album. Acoustic strumming and picking throughout, it slowly builds to a huge, epic conclusion that closes the album in the best way possible - it leaves you wondering what we could possibly do next.
Defiler - Nematocera
Record Label: Razor & Tie
Release Date: October 9th, 2012
"I wanna see you cry, bitch!" For most of us, that was the introduction to the California four-piece lifecore band, Defiler. The band (who recently signed to Razor & Tie) is led by 19 year old front man Jake Pelzl and is rounded out by Ethan Lewis (guitar), Ian Poole (drums) and Jesse Dhaliwal (bass). From the first track "Lucky 38", it’s easy to see that Jake’s vocals have vastly improved from their debut record Pangaea. The musicianship has gotten better this time around as well; less chugging and more melody. Sure, there’s a breakdown here and there but they’re not as prevalent as they were on Pangaea.The inclusion of clean vocals (mostly as backup singing) are nice touch and stand out on a few tracks such as "Movin’ On Up The Nation’s Chain", and "Nuclear Anomaly".
It’s worth noting the band self-produced the record with mixing duties handled by Chris “Zeuss” Harris (Suicide Silence, Chelsea Grin, The Acacia Strain); definitely a step up from the production on Pangaea. A few of the more prominent tracks on the record would be the crushing song, “Octobortion” (featuring Frankie Palmeri of Emmure) and “Walk In The Glow” (the single to which they’re making a video for). Jake describes the latter as “…heavy, pummeling verses with the melancholy, harmonized leads under it - the technical bridge with crazy guitar patterns - and the melodic choruses.” All in all, this is a great record for fans of the deathcore genre. If you want something heavy to listen to while throw down with your bros, this is the record for you.
8.5/10
- Jordan