Review by Carl on April 16, 2020.

I remember back in the day when this gang of ruffians released their infamous debut with its equally infamous coprophilic cover art and that the editorial pages of metal magazines were filled with disgusted and outraged reactions for months to come after that. Where has the time gone, one asks himself. After that, the band kept it going with their own brand of hedonistic fury and filth. It must be noted that for the troupe of porn addict hooligans that they are, the band is actually pretty competent at what they do, a fact they make clear once again on Mayhem Doctrine.

From the first note, they launch into their death metal assault with raging determination to bludgeon the listener into squash, and it's interesting to note that Waco Jesus doesn't sound like most of the brutal death metal legions out there. Their sound is firmly rooted into death metal of the early 90's like early Hypocrisy, Sinister (NL), Cannibal Corpse with Chris Barnes and "Harmony Corruption" era Napalm Death. The riffing is executed with punkish fluidity while the percussion keeps it all together with furious blasts, thrashy mid-tempo rhythms and slower, groovier parts to assure the short songs keep varied and interesting. On top of all that is the aggressive bark of vocalist Shane, spouting the vile lyrics over the violent death/grind. His is a style that's not as low as you have become as accustomed to from other BDM vocalists, utilizing a gruff, growling style that has more to do with bands like Repulsion, Deicide or Atrocity (US). They deliver their assault with hardcore energy, more akin to the approach of how the more aggressive thrash bands (think Dark Angel or early Num Skull) deliver their punch. They keep it swinging throughout and after a few listens these songs will be planted firmly into your deteriorating brain.

This is fierce death metal, steeped in old school attitude, with memorable songs, great production and dripping malicious aggression and if you're into violent death/grind you should have a field day grinding this down. Just try not to injure any old ladies while listening to this.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Emma on May 14, 2009.

Well, what to say. Austria’s Violent Devoties has brought us a death/grindcore EP that is decent, thought out, but has joined the masses that fall into the category of ‘mediocre.’
"Within The Great And The Venom" has a good opening; it gave me some expectations. But, the breakdowns were really the strongest points of the songwriting, which isn’t saying much in my opinion. Like so many bands of this genre in recent years (and some not so recent), Violent Devoties has that mechanical sound that takes away the soul and organic aggression Brutal Metal should have. The mixing (which is off) is partially to blame, but so are the vocals and effects. What happened to the untouched guttural human growl? Can you guys just fuck pro-tools for a second and play it as raw as your blood-spattered subject matter? ‘Sea Of Souls’ has the most to offer in the song-writing department, but the whole ‘Fuck Yoouu!’ thing is just adolescent. What really killed this album were the vocals. The dual vocals of screams sailing over growls just blew. This would have been a much better album had the screaming vocals been taken out entirely, though the growling isn’t particularly good either. The fact that they have a song about zombies gives Violent Devoties points, just because zombies are awesome. But even zombies can’t make up for the glossy sound of bands like this that plague metal mag advertisement sections.
The writing is what you would expect for this genre; some serious grammatical editing needs to take place though. Been there, done that, the annoying hardcore kid in your class would enjoy this.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship-5
Atmosphere-5
Production-4
Originality-3
Overall-5.5

Rating: 4.5 out of 10