Review by Greg on September 25, 2025.

If it's true that the purest form of thrash metal (thus excluding all the more ambitious modern masterworks I hold deep in my heart) has hardly seen innovations in the last couple of decades, that is even more valid for its blackened variant, which has few consolidated principles that are extremely unlikely to ever change. At the very least, one expects at least some confidence in songwriting, maybe some surprising touches here and there, and surely an album worthy of being remembered for more than 5 minutes after it stops playing. Great news: Devastator's second LP Conjurers Of Cruelty delivers exactly that, or better, way more than that.

Comparisons with Hellripper might be inevitable, be it for their shared home island or the fact that the bands' members also seem to be friends, and while Devastator might miss the same classy feel of James McBain's songwriting, they more than make up for it with unbelievably strong riffing, not to mention the emphasis placed on the actual songs' memorability. There isn't much beating around the bush when proclaiming that Conjurers Of Cruelty's first half is outstanding and nearing perfection. I can't really pick a favourite out of the bunch, but just listen to that honestly awesome chorus riff in the title-track and opener, or witness the fearsome refrain of the Cruel Force-esque 'Black Witchery's once it truly storms your speakers (you'll notice it), to understand why. Even the brutally simple, but far from simplistic, Midnight-like 'Walpurgisnacht' will stay cemented in your head in the blink of an eye. If there's one episode that initially appears to be very slightly behind the rest of the pack, that's strangely enough advance single 'Ritual Abuse (Evil Never Dies)', starting as a par for the course thrasher for about 1:30, before soon meeting a turning point towards a frightening black metal section and all the way to an anthemic finale, ultimately achieving grandeur as well.

To be fair, dividing Conjurers Of Cruelty into two halves is more of a disservice to it than anything else, since it manages to stay enviably consistent throughout the whole playing time. And so, between early Sodom-esque depraved tributes ('Necromantic Lust') and Vulcano (or akin seminal South American band) outtakes like 'Bestial Rites', the eye is caught by the two longest songs, the kind of tracks that make or break an album of this ilk... and they obtain very different results. 'Deathspell Defloration' goes for a spooky, harrowing vibe replete with deranged screams by vocalist T. Nachtgul, before giving way to another acceleration halfway through, which however doesn't show the guys at their most inspired. Conversely, closer 'Rabid Morbid Death' works wonderfully, driven by some of the best riffs on the whole album, as well as one particularly memorable lead section in the bridge, also reprised at the end. Truth be told, guitarist R. Amun doesn't score absolute gold with each and every lead part, and the couple 'Deathspell Defloration'-'Bestial Rites' offer a one-two punch of rather ugly and atonal solos, but luckily he usually limits himself to simpler, more traditionally inclined sequences, sometimes appearing too basic perhaps, but also fitting better than expected (check again the title-track). Hey, they surely were aware of their own (extremely few) limitations, it would seem...

In hindsight, I guess I should have expected Devastator to have something special in them after the intro: 'Beyond The Gate' sets the adequately somber atmosphere in a mere minute before segueing into the title-track with no effort, instead of being the umpteenth predictable waste of time. And what about the bonus tracks? They aren't just less successful rehashes of the tracklist, for once, but show yet another face of the band instead – if it wasn't for Nachtgul's voice, 'Liar In Wait' could almost be considered a Lowest Creature-esque stomping midtempo crawl, while 'Death Forever' is an insanely cool upgrade of the previous speed-y tracks with abundant gang shouts and a lively old-school thrash feeling. Two nice additions to an already opulent tracklist.

Conjurers Of Cruelty belongs to that rare breed of albums that leave a great first impression, and stay strong – if not stronger – with subsequent spins. Maybe not at the level of a Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags, but we're talking about absolute excellence there. Leaving apart the sporadic minor missteps, the first half is literally as good as blackened thrash can get, and 'Rabid Morbid Death' is a truly epic finale. I guess they'll have to blame Critical Defiance for not achieving my personal Album of the Year award, but this comes awfully close. You will not regret giving it a spin.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on January 25, 2024.

Black/thrash metal has always been one of my personal favorite forms of extreme metal subgenre, combining best of both worlds when it comes to oldschool black and thrash metal. Funnily enough, I don’t even recall coming across any lackluster or tasteless bands in this branch, because it is quite often dominated by three things: fucking, speed and darkness! A couple of years ago, I discovered an amazing band Devastator from Derby, England through the YouTube channel of their bassist and vocalist Nachtghul, who covered a lot of my all-time favorite songs from various artists. The band already put out their debut Baptised In Blasphemy back in 2020, however, they would return even stronger and more triumphant than ever in 2024. Devastator is set to release their second full-length album Conjurers Of Cruelty on March 1st, 2024 via Listenable Records, which has been previously teased with two singles, 'Ritual Abuse (Evil Never Dies)' and 'Liar In Wait'. If you are by any chance a massive black-thrashing maniac, hungry for blood, fire and death, then you might want to stick with me on this one, because you are about to witness one of the absolute pinnacles of this subgenre. 

The sounds of rain, church bells, eerie open string riffs and drum fade-ins open up the album with the first track 'Beyond The Gate', as somber and dread prepare the listener for the following title track, 'Conjurers Of Cruelty'. From here on out, it’s uncompromising and merciless black/thrash attack with headbanging heavy tremolo riffs with some black rock and roll here and there, dynamic drumming that incorporates standard thrash metal beats and walk breaking double-bass drumming, along with some sick harsh singing vocals. Instances of some punk rock energy are evident on the third track 'Black Witchery', combined with the predominant black-thrashing that is the centerfold of this album. This album really does not take a break from ultra headbanging moments, as it really starts ripping on 'Walpurgisnacht' with d-beat drumming and riffing that’s ripping it all the way through like hot knife through steel, while also throwing in some amazing guitar solos. Beside the established musical formula, they also found some space to use a bit of eerie atmospheric black metal with open string chords, evident on 'Deathspell Defloration', which on the first half breaks away from the overall album template by incorporating a slower tempo, until it decides to kick the chair and go back into action on the other half of the song. Other great banger tunes on this album that will really get your blood boiling and quench your bloodthirst is the eight track 'Bestial Rites', 'Sharpen The Blade', 'Rabid Morbid Death' and 'Ritual Abuse (Evil Never Dies)' which has some amazing acoustic guitar parts in a very flamenco-like fashion. This beast of an album ends on a high note with the closing track 'Rabid Morbid Death', with the last tremolo picking riff, guitar melodies and solos, double-bass drumming, with the final part slowly fading into black to let you know that this magnificent ritualistic symphony of blood, fire and death has come to a closure and that this is the end…Or is it? Well, it entirely depends on which album version you are listening to, because you also have two amazing bonus tracks that come in the CD version, 'Liar In Wait' and 'Death Forever', which do not leave the fans disappointed with extra content such as this. 

The songwriting on this album is quite dynamic, pushing the black/thrash metal performance beyond its limits and making every second count, down to every last riff that leaves no prisoners breathing. During my listening, I often felt that this album is like a love child of Watain and Aura Noir in terms of the overall execution and the atmosphere, or perhaps a perfect combination of album such as "Lawless Darkness", "Envoy Of Lucifer", "With Primeval Force", "Power From Hell" and "Black Thrash Attack", with some icing on the cake and cherry on the top to spice things up even more. As a friend of mine would say out loud from his guts “METAL PIZDA TI MATERINA”, this is exactly how I would sum up this album as a whole. The highlight of this album is that once it comes to the end, it certainly feels like a worthy pay off that leaves no head unbanged, even with the aforementioned bonus tracks on the CD version that only give you plenty more to enjoy. I also admire the cover art a lot, as the visual representation really matches the tone of the album with its greyish purple tone mixed with black, giving a bit of a vibe of albums by excellent bands such as Power From Hell and Mortuary Drape. The sound production is also pretty stellar, with a very pristine and top-notch sound that only amps up the band’s performance, especially for a modern day black/thrash metal album. 

From the moment I pressed play, I knew there was no turning back and it instantly hit me with the title track, headbanging like a bloody maniac hungry for some speed and fucking darkness. This was one of my most highly anticipated albums that I couldn’t wait to give it a listen, and I am so glad that I did. While I was listening to this album, I often felt like I was taken back in time when I first heard other black/thrash metal masterpieces like Nifelheim’s self-titled debut, Aura Noir’s "Black Thrash Attack", Ketzer’s "Satan’s Boundaries Unchained' and Desaster’s "Tyrants Of The Netherworld", and I would definitely say Conjurers Of Cruelty deserves to share a spot with those aforementioned albums. Devastator made one beast of an album that will be very difficult to top by any other album within the same subgenre, especially since this one went all in by saying “give them hell” and so they did. I always said that in the black/thrash metal movement, there is simply no space for pretentiousness and hipster mentality in this kind of subgenre, because it is all about pure aggression, hate and destruction. Be sure to check out Conjurers Of Cruelty, this album is an “all killer no filler”, and just a superb work of extreme metal art. 

Rating: 9.8 out of 10