SOME EARLY DEMO REVIEWS
METALLIAN.COM
Swedes are really smart and progressive. Violent Divine is from Sweden and has chosen a name that is both historically accurate, genre-wise appropriate and set in utter veracity. Who cares what a superstitious middle America thinks?
The quartet makes hay of its roots in '80s music and good old hard rock and heavy metal. Regrettably, two things are getting in the way. First, is the band's twelve-track CD which has arrived with no information, sleeve or song list. Second is the mixture of the music that leans heavily on the said genres, but certainly deviates from the essence. The debut track is certainly everything for which one could wish. The opener is like an accessible cross between Motörhead and Faster Pussycat. The song rocks and is aided by great vocals, backing vocals and a catchy upbeat hook that is heavy nonetheless. Then the CD changes tact and veers towards a mixture of late-era Ozzy and grungy overtures. The guitars take a jab at being Zakk Wylde and the mood becomes more somber.
Rest assured that songs like number three still hint at riffs like Thin Lizzy, but there is more to the evil deity than straightforward hard rock. Regardless, twelve tracks of full-on professionalism and considered songwriting will not be ignored. - Ali "The Metallian" www.metallian.com
CROSSROCKS.COM
We can be nostalgic about the 80's and stay in harmony with our time. Many bands proved it lately, from gothic metal to modern rock. Loving the hard rock scene from the 80's ain't anymore the shameful disease that everybody presented to us in the 90's, and now the young generation has seized this colossal heritage. The four young Swedes of VIOLENT DIVINE grew up with the "hair metal" scene, their heros are named MOTLEY CRUE, POISON or RATT (one will be able to see a wink to Pearcy's band on the intro of Climbing The Walls), but rather than serving an expired dish by photocopying the references of the style, Violent Divine adopted a much more interesting recipe.
We will not talk about innovation, but about faculty to take the best of each era to get a striking cocktail, made of great melodies and a fresh power. Their music reminds in many points what american rockers of MARS ELECTRIC did some years ago, maybe in a more powerful way, but with similarities which go until the voice which reminds me a lot of Jacob Bunton. The result is a strong modern hard rock decoction that mix remarkably power and melodies. Guitars are rough and nimble at the same time, the rhythmic section is merciless, and to tell the truth, with the listening of those first 10 tracks, it's hard to believe that the band was formed just a few months ago, and that the six songs from the demo cd "Making Some Noise" were recorded in just a few days ; the cohesion between the guys seems obvious and strong, and the production is awesome. The band is currently working on new tunes, and if they are as impressive as the first ones are, I'm sure that we will hear again from Violent Divine soon. That's all I wish to them!
www.crossrocks.com
VIOLENT DIVINE 'DEMO CDR' (DEMO CDR)
Up to Sweden where we find a band called VIOLENT DIVINE. They sent me a CDR with 4 songs, which definitely sound very impressive. It concerns a demo here, but it sounds as good as a label release. Musically not far away from the current modern melodic rocksound in the USA, yet with some classic BLACK SABBATHish guitar riffs here and there. Kinda like the last EUROPE record 'Star from the dark', but also not far away from bands like RA, HINDER and those kind of US major labels acts, but a comparison to HAREM SCAREM is also possible.
Fact remains we are dealing here with a Swedish band, which deliver 4 great big time sounding melodic heavy rocksongs on their demo, of which the best song is the fantastic opener "1". More info on VIOLENT DIVINE at: http://www.violentdivine.se
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
www.strutterzine.com
NO RESPECT
Violent Divine are Swedish and they sent to us four tracks that would be in a complete album, especially when the band are included in RocknrollUniverse (site) promotional rooster. Guys had the good idea to talk, in they biography like this: "all begun in the 80s, with con Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, Van Halen, Aerosmith". And all the writers talked about those bands, in reviewing Violent Divine. But I think that this band is more, you can listen at "Enslaved" to understand. It's a good example of new melodic metal, a bit dark, like My Chemical Romance and Happylife. Yes, in "Slow", second song, you can find a kind of taste for 80s riffs but Mike voice come back all in a place more contemporary and, I have to say, more interesting. Because they have what it takes and talent for good songs too.
www.norespect.it
POWERPLAY RECORDS
Violent Divine comes from Sweden and recently they sent us their promo CD. Some great news for them is that they recently got a recording deal with Chavis Records and now they are preparing their debut album. Now back to the music from this release, the band had include six songs and they walk in the hard rock paths. So what to expect from Violent Divine is of course the hard rock music, with a lot of melodies. Imagine a combination of elements from Motley Crue and Poison with some infuences from Black Sabbath and why not from Europe too. Generally the band has various influencial elements and they have combined them with their personal sound to be as unique as possible. I think this is why they were able to find a label, because they have created some unique elements in their music. I don't know if the band will give this promo away but for sure keep an eye out for their debut album, which I think should be available in 2006.
SCORE out of 8.3/10 Antonis Maglaras
www.powerplayrecords.net
OSNAMETAL.DE
2005 geht zu Ende und kurz vor dem neuen Jahr gibt's dann doch noch eine Überrachung aus Schweden zu vermelden! Erst dieses Jahr wurde die Band namens Violent Divine von Mike, Klaus, Q und Gus aus der Taufe gehoben um der Welt erneut das Rocken zu lernen und passend zu Weihnachten haben sie auch schon ihre erste Promo-CD am Start. Beeinflusst von Rock-Heroen wie "Motley Crue", "Poison", "Van Halen" oder "Aerosmith" ist die musikalische Ausrichtung ganz klar rock'n'rolligem Ursprungs. Schon beim ersten Song "Dreamworld" zeigt sich, dass die vier Schweden musikalisch wirklich gut sind, sehr präzise zusammenspielen und es verstehen, die Ohren des genrebegeisterten Höreres zu verzücken. Dieser Eindruck wird durch den gesamten Hördurchlauf weiter fortgesetzt und es kommt einem beinahe so vor, als wären die Jungs von Violent Divine zum Mukke machen geboren, denn es gibt eigentlich keinen Komplettausfall zu vermelden. Was sehr postiv auffällt, ist, dass ihre Songs zwar unterschiedlich komponiert sind, jedoch jeder irgendwie Hitpotential hat.
Neben all den drückenderen Midtempo-Krachern ist auch eine langsamere Nummer (Little Angel) anzutreffen, die aber doch zwischen all den R'n'R-Geschossen recht einsam dasteht.
Einziger Aufhänger ist Mikes Stimme, die meiner Meinung nach etappenweise einfach zu nölig und weich ist. Da hätte ne Schaufel mehr Roughness definitiv gut getan. Im Großen und Ganzen bleibt zu sagen, dass alle, die auf gepflegten Rock'n'Roll mit drückender-Midtempo Schlagseite und Mitsingrefrains abfahren, auf jeden Fall ein Ohr riskieren sollten, denn Violent Divine haben auf jeden Fall das Potential die nächsten R'n'R-Superstars from Sweden zu werden.
Thumbs up! Score: 3,5 von 5
[Marco]
Tracks:
01 Dreamworld
02 Enslaved
03 The morning show
04 Apocalypse
05 Slow
06 Down the line
07 Ghost in the machine
08 Malfunction
09 Levitate
10 Bring it out
11 Climbing the walls
12 Little angel
www.osnametal.de
MaRockmagazine
Si je vous dis Suède vous allez directement penser a la froideur de son black metal et son son malsain. dans ce gros paquet de groupe classé «méchant », surgissent 4 gentils ( ?) bonhommes qui sortent du lot ! Ils viennent de sortir leur toute première démo auto produite. 12 titres assez influencé par la scène hard rock des 80's, et de groupes tel que Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, Van Halen, Aerosmith et autres ! Mention spéciale au chanteur ainsi qu'au bassiste avec ces lignes de basse enchanteresses ! La production quant a elle est assez moyenne.
Un groupe assez intéressant que je vous invite à découvrir.
Chroniqué Par: RaVeN
Composition: 9/10
Cover/Packing: 4/10
Production: 7/10
Originalité: 8/10
Note generale: 7/10
www.marockmagazine.com
MUSIKLANDET
Mja, helt okej rock
Violent Divine går ut stenhårt, och gör allt för att folk ska veta att de finns. Bandet har inte funnits längre än sedan 2005, men de har spelat musik sedan åttiotalet. Det här är en ren promotionskiva, och den är jäkligt bra. Ljudet är klockrent, och låtarna är välspelade. Melodisk hårdrock med rötterna i den äldre skolan.
Tyvärr framgår det ingenting om vad låtarna heter, och ingen vidare bandpresentation finns heller. Men de kan säkert få en del fans. Jag tror på det här projektet. Nu vet ni att Violent Divine finns. Lycka till killar.
Score: 3 out of 5
The review: www.musiklandet.se
JOYZINE
Violent Divine hyllas på den internationella siten Rock n'roll Universe. Vilket egentligen bara är ännu ett bevis på att glamrockarna är otroligt lättflörtade och har märklig smak. Ta det här rätt nu. Jag menar absolut inte att Violent Divine är ett dåligt band, men att det skulle vara ett så monumentalt, fantastiskt band är inget annat än grova överdrifter.
Sida vid sida på samma site hittar vi till exempel Mötley Crüe och Aerosmith. Band som i mina ögon inte är särskilt fantastiska de heller, men som har skänkt stor inspiration till Violent Divine. På denna fyraspårsdemon levereras det välspelad och glammig rock som vill lukta svett och alkohol lång väg.
Alkoholen finns där, Violent Divine är party! Men svetten vetetusan. Jag tycker nämligen att bandet kväver lite av sina i grunden medryckande idéer genom att spela för långsamt. Vissa prylar avslöjar att det finns en hel del riktigt smaskiga grejer i killarnas hjärnor, men de förgås i det slöa tempo som dras upp. Låtarna tappar för mycket energi helt enkelt. Eftersom Violent Divine inte är ett band som lever på tyngd tycker jag gott att de kan spela lite snabbare.
Förutom glamrock skulle man kunna kalla musiken som framförs på demon "arenarock för klubbscener". Violent Divine gör sin grej bra, men tittar lite väl mycket i backspegeln. Hur nostalgiskt det än är var de där gamla rockbanden aldrig så sexiga som de ville och trodde. Med lite mer attityd kan Violent Divine bli något stort. Men det blir de väl ändå, Rock n'roll Universe tycks ju ha stakat ut vägen för dem redan.
Score: 3 out of 5
The Review: www.joyzine.se
HEAVYMETAL.DK
Svenskerrock med kraftige rødder i 80'ernes klassiske navne som Mötley Crüe, Poison og til en vis grad også Ozzy.
Violent Divine spiller hæderligt, men langtfra imponerende - musikken er ikke helvedes tight, og der er noget garagelyd over produktionen, men til gengæld gøres der op for dette gennem spilleglæde og power, og i dette tilfælde bliver resultatet absolut af det positive.
Hvor demoens fire første skæringer er rendyrket nydelse, går det desværre noget ned ad bakke senere, og et par af numrene er temmelig intetsigende. Ikke desto mindre udvises der helt klart potentiale, der er værd at arbejde med i Violent Divine.
Score: 6 out of 10
The Review: www.heavymetal.dk
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