Search - Divine Heresy :: Bringer of Plagues

More Than Expected From Divine Heresy

Michael | FL United States | 09/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's been a hell of a year for Dino Cazares. He and his old friend Burton C. Bell recently became best friends again years after Fear factory was reformed without Dino. Since then, it was a war of words between the former bandmates. Now, FF is back with a new lineup featuring Dino on guitar, plus Gene Hoglan and Byron Stroud from Strapping Young Lad, Zimmers Hole, and Tenet. In the meantime as we wait for this new album, Divine Heresy brought us their second offering Bringer Of Plagues, the vicious followup to their successful debut Bleed The Fifth. Many figured the first album was all they had to offer and nothing else. Well, Bringer Of Plagues is your answer. If Bleed The Fifth was their breakout album, then this is the annihilation that follows. New vocalist Travis Neal makes his presence known as more than just Tommy Vext's replacement, while Dino focuses on his guitar attack with precision and even improves on his guitar solo abilities, Joe Payne steps up his bass playing for his Divine Heresy recording debut after Dino did most of the bass on the first record, and Tim Yeung is faster and way more technical than he's ever been. All in all, if you thought Bleed The Fifth was all Divine Heresy had on the menu, then it's time for you to expand."

Fine second effort from Fear Factory guitarist

Scott Hedegard | Fayetteville, AR USA | 11/19/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dino Cazares, the guitar smasher from Fear Factory's greatest era ("Deconstruction" and "Obsolete") has reportedly rejoined Burton C. Bell and we'll see some new Fear Factory soon, complete with drummer extraordinaire Gene Hoglan, of Death and Strapping Young Lad.

In the meantime, Divine Heresy's second effort "Bringer Of Plagues" sates the appetites of Cazares fans with a furious pounding sonic assault, driven by drummer Tim Yeoung, who drums like the Tasmanian devil on crack. In fact, that may be the only drawback as DH pound you relentlessly, when the occasional big beat would be a nice switch.

Travis Neal, the new vocalist can shred with the best of them but also provides some nice clean vocals and counter melody, which is an element sadly missing from too much extreme metal these days. Yes, some will say that grunting and roaring is extreme, but not when everybody and his dog does it. Are you listening, Randy Blythe?

DH is Cazares' band, though, and because of the insane drumming, his guitar sometimes gets obscured. Plus, he showed us on DH's first CD that he could indeed play ripping lead guitar, but doesn't seem to want to that much this time around. Don't be afraid to show your chops, Dino.

"Bringer Of Plagues" is a good CD, but I dock it one star for a mix that has too much drum and not enough guitar and a relative lack of a decent hook."

Cold, Calculating, and Unrelenting!!!

Jeremy Brackeen | Cameron, WI United States | 03/31/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I first listened to Divine Heresy's highly successful and breakthrough debut album from 2007 "Bleed The Fifth", what I heard was a vicious and commanding onslaught of unrelenting guitars and pounding drums that litterally blew me away in every sense of the word, and I was quickly hooked to Divine Heresy afterwards. Now with their latest album 2009's "Bringer of Plagues", Divine Heresy continue where they left off on their debut album and bring absolute aggression and annihilation like a machine hellbent on destruction. This album is simply cold, calculating, and unrelenting with a bludgeoning and viciously destructive onslaught of hammering machine gun riffs, heart pounding drums, and commanding vocals, it's just amazing in every aspect. "Bringer of Plagues" also features the debut of new vocalist Travis Neal who replaces former vocalist Tommy "Vext" Cummings, and it's also the first DH album to feature new bassist Joe Payne. While Travis's screaming vocals may not be as aggressive as Tommy's, but he still delivers nonetheless, just listen to him during the chorus on "Anarchaos", and the intro on "Monolithic Doomsday Devices" for proof, and he also does good with the clean and melodic vocals as well. Dino Cazares's heavy, ice cold riffs will just hammer your ears with relentless fury like a machine gun that fires through your body like crazy, and he also throws in some nice solos, yes I said solos. Joe Payne's bass is somewhat drowned out throughout most of the album not that I'm complaining or anything, however he does have some moment here especially on "Facebreaker" where he throws in a cool bass riff in the beginning, and meanwhile drummer Tim Yeung pounds, crushes, and destroys behind the drums throughout with a barrage of fast, monstrous, and pounding beats, and rapid firing machine gun like double bass kick onslaughts. He is just an absolute monster on here, and this album sure proves that he never sounded better.



Highlights Included:



"Facebreaker" is a fast and insane opener that boasts an insane opening guitar riff that is quickly followed by a short but sweet bass riff by Payne and a throat piercing scream from Neal that lead into a barrage of blasting and pounding drums, double bass kicking, more insane riffing and blistering screams, and there's also a nice guitar solo thrown in by Dino as well. "The Battle of J.Casey" continues the rampage with more pounding drums, fast, surging guitars, and angry screams. We also have a great melodic sung chorus as well as a crushing breakdown of hammering machine gun riffing and double bass kicking shortly before the 2 minute mark and another nice shredding solo is also thrown in as well. "Bringer of Plagues" is another favorite of mine on here that immediately begins with Travis screaming out "BRINGER OF PLAGUES" which quickly lead into another rampaging and commanding assault of blasting, heart pounding drums and chaotic, ice cold riffing that'll beat you straight up senseless, while "Redefine" is another fast paced and crushing back scorcher that is highlighted by more of Tim's incredible double bass percussion work, and there's a catchy melodic sung chorus too. Track six "Anarchaos" (which is my favorite song on the album) is highlighted by more commanding screaming vocals, hammering, and bludgeoning riffs and double bass drum onslaughts, and a monstrous shout along chorus that will simply give you goosebumps, and there's a punishing breakdown around the 2 minute mark as well. Track seven "Monolithic Doomsday Devices", meanwhile features some excellent screaming from Travis in the beginning before going into another bludgeoning onslaught of crushing, machine gun like riffs, and blistering double bass drumming, and "Enemy Kill" just crushes throughout with more pummeling, ice cold riffing, and double bass pedal kicking, and more brutal, harsh screams from Neal to boot, while "Darkness Imbedded" is a more slower and melodic cut that greatly showcases Neal's melodic vocal skills.



Overall, there isn't even one bad song on this album, they all rule as a matter of fact. All in all, "Bringer of Plagues" is definately one of my favorite albums of 2009, and is simply put one monster of an album that will just blow your mind away from start to finish pretty much like "Bleed the Fifth". Highly Recommended!!!



BTW: Dino Cazares is back in Fear Factory now, and they released a new album called "Mechanize" just recently. Be sure to check that out too..."