UMUR
"Gospel of Maggots" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Polish death metal act Deivos. The album was released through Unique Leader Records in February 2010. It´s the successor to "Emanation From Below" from 2006, so it´s been a few years since the release of the predecessor. Considering how many years it took from the band´s formation in 1997 until they released "Emanation From Below (2006)", four years really aren´t that many though. The four-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor is still intact on "Gospel of Maggots".
The material on the 10 track, 32:38 minutes long album continue the brutal technical death metal style of "Emanation From Below (2006)". It´s brutal, energetic, and powerful sounding death metal played by a skilled act. Especially drummer Krzysztof "Wizun" Sapan is an incredible skilled and also quite creative musician. I don´t think I´ve ever heard a brutal technical death metal release featuring as adventurous use of cymbals and cowbell as Sapan treats the listener to on "Gospel of Maggots". His playing on this album elevates the music to a level beyond what most similar acts/releases are able to deliver. The rest of the band are also very skilled musicians though, and they should definitely not be forgotten when praising the brutal assault and technical finésse of the instrumental part of the album. These guys can play fast and they can play heavy with equal amounts of conviction...
...none of which would have mattered if the material weren´t as well written, catchy, and powerful as the case is here. The unintelligible growling vocals by Jaroslaw Pieńkoś are not the most interesting growling vocals I´ve ever heard, and although he occasionally spices things up with some higher pitched aggressive screaming, the vocals are the weak link of the album. They get the job done, but that´s it. "Gospel of Maggots" features a powerful, brutal, and detailed sound production, so other than the relatively "standard for the genre" vocals, it´s a high quality brutal technical death metal release and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.