Review by Stellarium on April 4, 2024.

Divine Empire are easily most remembered as being the band that numerous ex-members of Malevolent Creation formed during their hiatus or permanent departure from the group. I was a little hesitant at first due to the drama surrounding "that lyric" written by Jason Blachowicz during his MC days, but there appears to be no additional examples of such belligerence and this band as far as I can see doesn't particularly intake in any such unacceptable use of slurs.

The short, pointless intro (I seriously wish bands that felt the need to do this gave something - anything of substance to these openers.) segues into "Hidden Hatred", which punches my ticket with the aggression of Thor's Hammer. Hyper-fast old school death metal with gutturals that will appeal to fans of Deicide and of course, Malevolent Creation. The guitars ebb and flow between riff, after riff, after riff. A micro-solo slams the track well and truly shut, and I am comfortable calling this song one of the best death metal openers that I am aware of.

Like many death metal albums cut from this cloth, the material is very meat-and-potatoes, but the band have more than enough tricks in their bags to mix it up well enough (as explored later in the review). Unfortunately, there are times when the band utilise further genre tropes that they frankly could have done with avoiding. Samples used in songs are more than welcome when done sparingly and correctly, but the intro to "Silent Carnage" is so cheesy that I found myself actually wincing, which is never a good thing. It just felt like throwing something random for the sake of us being able to hear the violence and profanity as a clean, coherent plot device. I can't identify the sample, but it just annoys me deeply and I'd be tempted to edit it out of the song and listen to that version. As I have picked this up on CD though, I'm stuck with "skip or put up with".

One thing I need to further discuss is the excellent production. It's rare to hear the instruments all popping in and out at the correct times to promote their duties, but when there's a drum fill, it's given extra oomph to stand out a mile away as per("Induced Expulsion. I know that this is the general idea of correct music engineering, but it fails to surprise me to this very day how many people don't get it one hundred per cent correct - or just don't mix the songs to their own unique merits and USPs.

Derek Roddy's drum work is an absolute pleasure to listen to, being super pronounced and deep, amplified even more with a good set of Headphones. Jon Soar's guitar work is also top notch and his is a name that should be mentioned a lot more when discussing these things on various YouTube channels dedicated to death metal.

As for Blachowicz? I may have made my point at the beginning but I cannot deny that he is a talented vocalist and bassist. His gutturals on this release are memorable and stand right up there with the previously mentioned work from Glen Benton's Deicide.

There is a level of dynamicity that the experience of the members can draw from to prevent any stagnancy from occurring. The band may use blast beats a lot, but they don't rely on them to enforce the vision of brutality that they are so hellbent on delivering. The bass licks that occur on "Witness to Terror" are utilised to great effect, as they kick in just before all hell breaks loose with the frenetic vocal chaos and guitar solo - further imagining a scene of utter, utter dereliction.

The Summary

Divine Empire's first album continues where Malevolent Creation left off after the divide. One could argue that this album is better than a good chunk of MC's catalogue, and if given the same name would rank highly in the overall discography. I feel that the group didn't reach the same level of renown that they could have been afforded, and perhaps if a few bad decisions weren't made that the project would be a little higher on the pedestal of 90s death metal. There is very little wrong with this album, and if that stupid intro and sample were removed, I'd have this down as a very, very strong must-have.

As it stands, this is a great album for all death metal fans to listen to, and I'd go as far as to recommend it to newcomers to the genre.

Sell me this Album

No chance, I'm keeping my copy. Seriously though:

- Hidden Hatred: After the fuckery that is the thirty seconds of nothing, this is a great statement of intent with a couple of frantic micro-solos.
- Witness to Terror: Just listen to the breakdown and chaos that ensues. It's death metal's "Black Spell of Destruction"
- Induced Expulsion: The instruments come together in sweet harmony, with a drum sound and fills that are simply blissful to experience.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10