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Devastation > Signs of Life > Reviews
Devastation - Signs of Life

A new lease on strife - 83%

autothrall, January 22nd, 2022
Written based on this version: 1989, CD, Combat Records

The difference between Violent Termination and Signs of Life is like night and day. That album was an insipid junkyard of dead-end ideas, with only its heart in the right place, and this sophomore is a record so bloody fast, fun and violent that it will literally remove your heart from your chest and grind it up in its teeth. In just two short years, Corpus Christi's Devastation had become pretty goddamn great, a natural signing for then-extreme Combat Records, and festooned in a damn cool cover by Tommy Pons (who also created the mascot for fellow Texan hard rockers Dangerous Toys). For a 15 year old autothrall, this was the sort of underground thrashing that buttered my bread, I must have nearly chewed through the cassette of this one along with Forbidden Evil, Leprosy, Leave Scars and Uncertain Future. Just an uncompromising good time, and one of the more 'extreme' albums in the genre, sort of a midpoint between Darkness Descends and Sacred Reich's Ignorance.

That's not to say it's perfect; it's wild but it does occasionally suffer from a sameness to the faster tracks that begin with the explosive "Eye for an Eye", one of my faves on the album, and the hardcore-like tint to the vocals definitely gives this a partial crossover feel, albeit with the more structured riffing. But almost all of the mid paced parts or evil Slayer-like breakdown riffs are pretty awesome, and there are a few good riffs in the more frantic passages too. Leads here are still not so memorable, but they freak out much better than on Violent Termination and sound far better in the mix. The drumming is far more coherent and intense, and the bass remains nice and thick to pulverize alongside the rhythm guitar madness. The vocals here are the biggest improvement, like I said they've got a punkish/hardcore feel to them but unlike the debut, the patterns he is spitting are far more aligned with the energy of the instruments, and he's mixed just right against them. Really, though, the whole band had leveled up and the one lineup change was well worth it.

Signs of Life also has my favorite production of their three albums, angry and fresh but still pretty clear, and comparable to other fast and nasty thrash records like Swallowed in Black by Sadus. This is the one which feels the most timeless to me, even sitting here writing this, I'm feeling the same affection for it as I did in those critical teenage years. It's no masterpiece, but one of those perpetual cult classics that deserves its spot in your tape/CD/record rack. And while it's not as short as Reign in Blood, it's only about 33 minutes, so it never ever gets the chance to wear out its welcome, the band just shows up, destroys and dizzies you to your thrashing satisfaction, and then takes a bow. One of the biggest turnarounds in all of thrash metal; they came up to bat, took their first strike, and then hit a home run, or at least a triple, and carried the bat with them, smashing all the basement in the face as they hurried on past.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

The fearsome return - 83%

TheBurningOfSodom, September 7th, 2020

I always wondered who the hell could listen to Violent Termination and think 'wow, these dudes have potential, we gotta be fast and sign them!'. Thankfully, a very similar thought popped in the minds of some guys at Combat Records, and Devastation found its back covered by a label which many bands envied (some certainly more worthy than what exhibited on the debut). In any case, the crew from Corpus Christi were given the opportunity to prove they were much, much better than what everybody had heard. Some lineup changes were to be expected, and now we find the band as a 5-piece, with the welcome addition of second guitarist Henry Elizondo and a new drummer in Louie Carrisalez.

It has already been pointed out how much Devastation's sound has changed in the lapse of two years (as you may also guess by the review ratings here), but HOLY SHIT!, this is really where the band's moniker comes to life. It's one of the most over-the-top albums in the entire thrash history, and this alone is quite a strong achievement.

Okay, it may not be the most professionally played album ever, Rodney Dunsmore's vocals still retain a lot of their hardcore attitude (this time shouted with mercifully more conviction) and end up being decent at best and pretty tiring; moreover, the playing again sounds a little sloppy (mind you, less 'we have no clue how to play in tempo together'-type sloppy and more 'we're playing too fast to care about precision'-type sloppy). But who cares? It seems like the band already knew you'd be thinking this, so they just pummel your senses assaulting you with riff after riff after riff right from the first seconds of the incredible opener 'Eye for an Eye': two riffs, twenty seconds in and they've already obliterated everything they released before this. Probably the entrance of Elizondo played its part, but while Violent Termination's riffwork was hardly memorable, here he and Burk jump (almost) seamlessly from one neck-breaking sequence to the other.

As you may guess, there's not a whole lot of variation throughout these 30-something minutes. The riffs themselves aren't very different from each other, though they're still played with adequate aggression to be effective, and the hyper-fast drumming sure helped. The songs follow the same pattern for a good half, until the highlight 'Tomorrow We Die', strategically placed in the middle, starts playing. This is probably the most Idolatry-predating episode here, with a welcome alternance of tempos after the constant assault of the first 4 tracks. 'Fear of the Unknown' is the other outlier, a slower composition which didn't end up among my favourites, but featured particularly interesting lyrics about the afterlife. I can't help but reserve a comment about the lyrics, because they're surely way more elaborated than the debut... if only you could tell. I swear they're too long to fit in most of the songs. Oftentimes the poor Dunsmore desperately tries to match the speed of the music, so don't be surprised if the diction isn't exactly crystal clear: I wouldn't be surprised if on 'Contaminated' or 'Manic Depressive' some words were actually ditched altogether.

Where was I... oh yes, of course every other song I didn't mention is afraid to slow down, as if a hitman was ready to shoot if it did. From 'Eye for an Eye' to 'Retribution' (which complete my list of highlights, the latter with sick riffs and a melodic [!] solo), to the seizure inducing short cuts ('Desolation', post-intro 'Manic Depressive', 'Contaminated', 'Escape to Violence'), there is hardly a moment to catch a breath. A truly intense experience, especially if coupled with one of the most abrasive guitar tones I recall having heard. No major worries if the production doesn't completely give justice to the drums, you're probably not gonna hear the whole kit, yet I'm pretty confident that, apart from the snare and the cymbals, not much else was hit during the album recording sessions. In any case, Carrisalez bashes the skins like his own life depended on it.

And that's basically the keyword of the whole Signs of Life: intensity. Absolutely zero new paths were explored in this half an hour, but it was the boost they needed to gain self-confidence, establish themselves as a local interesting force, and who knows... maybe release a better full-length in, say, another two years.

Where Did This Come From! - 87%

tidalforce79, December 18th, 2018

The debut of Devastation-“Violent Termination,” was not a terrible effort, yet it failed to impress. Devastation had some solid ideas in the riff department. The band displayed both aggression and moderate technicality; however, the debut had some of the worst vocals ever. It seemed that the band was destined to remain a side note, on the bottom of a single page in the annals of thrash history. Thus, when Signs of Life came to my door, I only had a lackluster display of hope in the contents within. I could not have been more inaccurate in my preconceived notions!

Very few albums begin in a manner that can stun a hardened thrash fan: this is one of them. The manifested violence spewing forth will leave a veteran of the brutal arts curled in the fetal position. The speedy execution of the initial, heart-stopping riff is a dish best served raw. The production value is the waiter of such a dish. Sure, the overall sound is perhaps slightly thin, but the album is mixed well enough to damage internal organs.

One after another, the riffs attack like a squadron of heavy bombers. Frantic guitar patterns destroy the listener’s eardrums. Though Devastation runs a pretty tight show of technicality, the instrumental skills displayed on the album are not abnormal for thrash released around nineteen eighty-nine. The drummer rotates patterns moderately well, but spends most of his time in a speed-laced fury. In terms of the mix, the drums could sound a tad better, but they are hardly terrible. The bass is hard to distinguish, which is nothing new for a thrash album.

The highlight of the album is “Tomorrow We Die.” The intro riff builds the tension to a point that leaves the listener begging for release. Prayers are answered when the hyper agitated main riff kicks into full gear. Minutes of metal abuse continue the song, followed by one of the greatest thrash breaks of all time. Anyone who doesn’t pump his or her fist upon hearing the murderous riff is not valuable to society. Simply put, Signs of Life is the auditory equivalent of eugenics: only the strong survive.

The overall performance of the band is solid, but not to the level of “Idolatry.” One can detect perhaps a little too much “Reign in Blood” worship. It seems like Devastation was trying to outdo Slayer in pure aggression, while ignoring the fact they perform best with precision. Signs of Life is a short album, but Devastation is more effective with slightly longer songs, that tease the listener, then attack in full force (as seen on “Idolatry”). Regardless of this fact, the major flaw is not the execution, it's the vocals.

Rodney has improved drastically since “Violent Termination.” Instead of simply talking the entire time, he attempts aggressive shouting and snarling. Consequently, he doesn’t fair too well in doing so. The vocals are a mess of unfocused screaming. The lyrical articulation is merely satisfactory. It seems Rodney is out of his league when it comes to the insane speed the band displays.

In conclusion, Signs of Life is more than worth owning despite the vocal flaws and excessive hero worship of Slayer’s masterpiece. There are scores of thrash albums worse, though there are many better.

A staggering rebound from the flat-headed debut - 88%

Gutterscream, July 21st, 2006
Written based on this version: 1989, 12" vinyl, Combat Records

…raining fire holocaust, searing death all is lost…”

In a miraculous recovery, Devastation crawl out from beneath the cowl of their mega-crummy, crib death of a debut with eyes afire, blood boiled to a red paste to smear across everything bad written about 1987's Violent Termination. Suddenly the five-piece (added one during the hiatus, guitarist Henry Elizondo, while booting their old pedestrian stickman for machine-like Louie Carrisalez) crash through the floodgates with a savagery & scorching strength the debut couldn’t find with a pack of bloodhounds. The addition of another guitarist expands their base boundaries, meanwhile engineer Kerry Crafton at Dallas' Goodnight Studios ornaments the thing with all kinds of umph, and being under the umbrella of Combat Records doesn't hurt. Toss them all into a crucible & we have what I consider one of the most unexpected & astonishing ascensions from sheer slug dung in metal history.

If it were the same four guys, I probably wouldn’t have picked this up, and believe me the continued presence of snooze-vocalist Dunsmore was the hardest mountain to overcome. Honestly, there were two things I was expecting from this lp: another utter waste of money or something worth maybe two bucks. If the second point was to be the reality, I was counting on a mad dash opener, which “Eye for an Eye” is, then a bunch of overformed, yet underfed third rate tech-riffs ala Defiance or bad Testament, then somewhere around mid-side two another halfway decent gas guzzler, then thankful silence. Instead, there are riffs worthy of what could’ve been Hirax’s third lp circa 1987, the whirlwind thickness of Holy Terror & the unsteady technical knack of Pleasure to Kill-era Kreator. Their once very sub-par songwriting now defies logical origins, having heated up over the course of the last two years that instead strangely seems instantaneous & evolved into a creature of explosive resolve that feels as though it can’t be stopped. Much of this eight-tracker is in constant, remorselessly-grinding sandblast mode, which is just lovely, however to me the most interesting scenes are when things slow down, lean back & pound out gritty waves of metered aggression, like those surrounding the surprisingly fluent solo in “Retribution”, the quick-step chug at the title cut's start & the Kreator-ish interlude in “Tomorrow We Die”. When that’s not going on, “Contaminated”, “Desolation” & final curtain “Escape to Violence” easily cement you into your chair through deafening force.

So why isn't this grade-A material? Those goddamn vocals. Okay, Dunsmore has improved by layers, but that just exemplifies how crappy he is on the debut. Still soullessly hollered, his vox flies by in an achromatic blur of scratch n’ sniff hardcore, the stick in the mud the album's tornado can’t pull free & is honestly the one thing anchoring this lp to the second tier. I sit here picturing (aurally, of course) a hoarse, debut-era Pestilence Martin van Drunen, or Destructor’s violent Dave Overkill, or a suicidal wind shear screamer like Mille Petrozza, or even the demonic bellowing of (yikes) Adrian Frelich of Poland's Dragon. For Chrissake people, it's Texas, a metal hotbed extraordinaire where vocalists were probably sitting on street corners waiting for work. Sigh.

In 1989, this coulda been considered the kick-start to a short-lived time machine, recollecting mid-'80s ultra-thrash product on the cusp of the decade where it had no choice but battle the rising power of upstart clinical frash, the toddler steps of uninteresting & overpraised grunge & even oddball stuff like Last Crack. With things still looking bleak come 1991, they rolled out howitzer Idolatry. I still think they should’ve gunned down Dunsmore, though.

Got a million riffs. Want some? - 92%

Cup_Of_Tea, October 30th, 2005

Now, in the neverending world of thrash you got many hybrids, clones, bastard children, ripoffs, retarded half-thrash influence and probably somewhere behind all that you got the real shit. Devastation is a really interesting band, very close to Germany's power metal Scanner - a band that went completely Helloween, but actually surpassed them with their own material, and not just that, they became the teachers, while Helloween got fired. Devastation takes a LOT from Sepultura, the riffing, the drumming, simmilar vocals - some would say I'm talking about a clone, but the truth is not quite there.
Devastation took Sepultura, smashed their balls, raped them and ate their organs, completely surpassing them both in style and riff ideas.

While not completely insane like Idolatry, Signs Of Life is still very fucking lethal. It's loaded with blazing, catchy riffs that simply keep kicking you second after second. Just listen to Desolation, you can't fucking even listen to one riff, and then comes the next one, it continues this way proving these guys ain't fooling around, they said they want to thrash and they thrashed!

All the songs here are awesome and damn efficient, but there are only 3 songs that completely and absolutely slay every other song on the album. The already mentioned Desolation, the insanely fast and brutal Retribution and of course Contaminated + Fear of the Unknown, the former being only a intro to the other imo. The riffs here are superb, fast as hell, catchy and like 15 times better than anything Sepultura ever made.

This album is quite the masterpiece, and while being not quite the perfect Idolatry, it completely and utterly slays everything in sight. If you need brutal thrash... look no further.