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DEVIENCE DEVIENCE ALBUM REVIEW


Rooted in the classic rock vein, DeVience draw on bands such as Guns N Roses, Queen and Hanoi Rocks to create a modern, yet familiar rock sound. Formed in 2013, the band have taken their sounds to LA's Sunset Strip and some of London's favourite rock venues.

With a crash of percussion, bellowing guitars, police sirens and screaming rock vocals, Ignition gives us an overture to a rip-roaring rock album for the 21st century. Go Hard Or Go Home pretty much sums up the vibe of the album in terms of enthusiasm and style. Take Me Down (La La Land) takes on a semi-autobiographical tone as the band look back at their time in LA, referencing Thin Lizzy as they go. Gio's vocals have the cheeky twang of Robbie Williams with the exuberance of Michael Monroe. Jim and Donnie play some fine guitar licks throughout that are so tight you can feel their callouses split and the blood oozing over the fretboard.

Move has that sassy Aerosmith feel, which utilises the sexy and rhythmic percussion of the band. It harks back to the big-haired, glam overtones of rock that made the genre so much fun before it took itself way too seriously. Apart from Nicko McBrain, you'll never hear another drummer hit a cowbell in the street and bristling way as DeVience's stick man Olli. Lady Of The Night not only drops a funky, Prince inspired bass line but pulls in elements of the blues packed classic rock days.

As the album goes on there are dirty, rolling guitar licks and fiery vocals aplenty but Easy, takes a moment to slow things down and brings out the band's gentler side; it also gives Gio a chance to show a contrast to his powerhouse vocals. The track alternates from an intimate and tender acoustic based ballad to a full on passion, as the song builds. Like all the power ballads that have come before, this one also has all the hallmarks of a great rock romance.

Whilst there are typical rock elements of sex and hedonism dotted throughout the album, there are deeper and more meaningful lyrical themes of depression, dissatisfaction (Living The Dream) and living life on your own terms (the Queen influenced, Holding Me Back.) Every well-loved rock cliché in the book can be spotted somewhere from the lightening guitar solos to bounding choruses. Yet somehow the band manage to keep the track firmly rooted in the modern world with a healthy dose of millennial arrogance and raw energy. It's an album for the youngsters to finally realise that proper music is actually a thing, and those who had lost faith to draw comfort in the fact that rock is very much alive and screaming. It's everything you love about classic and modern rock.


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