Divinus have unleashed their second effort on the Metal world with their …Thoughts of a Desperate Mind. This follow-up disk to Angels Punishment was long awaited with nearly five years between release dates. The self described Atmospheric Melodic Metal band does offer a lot of melody where other bands would just choose to power over their listener. Sure enough, there are a lot of audio enhancements to the tracks, be it in the form of grandiose keyboard nuances, or sampled industrial pounding sounds that indeed create a lot atmosphere.
“Behind the Truth” serves as a very cool intro with the aforementioned industrial pounding (nothing says Metal better than the actual sound of metal being pounded, eh?) … and for real atmosphere, the opening instrumental “Influence” creates a sense of anticipation that draws you nearer to the speakers just waiting for this song to erupt. Overall, there is a little something for everyone here, be it hard-pounding Thrash beats, or slow melody-infused ballad-type movements.
Unfortunately, it is that diversity that underscores the overall feel of this album. Whereas the Dream Theaters and Fates Warnings of this world are able to borrow form all of the different styles of Metal/Rock and create a sound that is their own, Divinus sounds uneven and not entirely focused.
This is a perfect example of where a good producer could come in a make a difference. There is a lot of excitement in these songs, and a lot of energy and emotion, but the changing riffs and stylizing in each song are sometimes too plentiful. It would have been nice to grab hold of certain parts and get to know them better. Just as you lock onto a great riff, it is replaced by something new.
Actually, this isn’t an uncommon theme in music in general. When you get excited by your work, you become anxious to try new things and explore new ground; that is all to be commended. But when you are writing a song, there is a lot to be said for maturity, for knowing when to explore and when to hold tight to the signature of the song.
Using an outside ear is always a good place to start; it is a rare few who have the gift of production and can use it on their own work. That may sound ludicrous; after all, who knows what sound you are trying to achieve better than the artists themselves? However, this is why Metallica’s Black Album and the first Iron Maiden albums sound the way they do … because a great producer knows how to shape rough cut marble into the “David.”
The vocal affect on Daniel Ott’s voice during “Change,” for instance, doesn’t lend itself to the song; it just sounds like they discovered a cool affect and decided to use it. The Gaelic sounding verse in “Bloody Ice” conjures up dwarves dancing around a miniature Stonehenge — a producer might have brought some attention to that fact (although maybe that is intentional, a nod to Spinal Tap is always held in high regard).
…Thoughts of a Desperate Mind sounds a lot more like a first album rather than the second. Fortunately, though, none of the tracks ever just crash and burn, so you have to have faith that there is a foundation of goodness. With so many albums being released these days, one would think any false move could be extremely detrimental to an up-and-coming band. Hopefully Divinus will continue and make good on the promises of greatness that they allude to throughout this release.
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