Review by Dominik on February 20, 2025.

The Germans of Servant are back with Death Devil Magick, an album that continues their methodical approach to black metal. Much like their French counterparts Seth—just without the symphonic elements—Servant treats the genre as a technical discipline rather than an outburst of raw energy. If black metal were a mad scientist's experiment, they would be the ones in lab coats, carefully measuring the exact dose of venom to inject. Unfortunately, sometimes a bit of chaotic spillage is what makes the poison truly effective. Everything on Death Devil Magick feels carefully assembled, placed with intention, and executed with precision. All parts carry the weight of having been constructed with great effort and care and nothing is left to chance. This level of craftsmanship is admirable, but as always, the question remains: does technical perfection translate to emotional impact?

We need to remember that black metal was born from an ethos of imperfection, lo-fi production (ok, the least important part), raw emotion and anti-commercial stance. It was never meant to be clean, safe, or predictable. Death Devil Magick leans towards sterility rather than spontaneity. The highly professional but polished production mirrors the songwriting—structured, deliberate, and never reckless. This is not the kind of black metal that stumbles out of a dark forest with bloodshot eyes and a rusty dagger—it's the kind that arrives in a well-pressed robe, carrying a leather-bound grimoire. And yet, three albums in, Servant is still capable of delivering moments that remind you why black metal benefits from discipline and (!) chaos.

After the generic, obligatory intro (a trend I will never understand), "Temple" impresses with its coherence despite frequent tempo shifts. The transitions are fluid and the song shines with a well-structured intensity. Yet, the feeling of restraint lingers. It's as if the band could easily unleash total chaos but prefers to hold back—like a werewolf who refuses to transform because it doesn't want to ruin the expensive suit. This calculated approach works in places but can also make the album feel overly contained.

One aspect that immediately stands out is the guitar work, which injects the right amount of melody and feels the least "constructed" of all the instruments. The rhythm section, while perfectly synchronized, at times sounds so precise that the line between the human behind the kit and machine becomes blurred. That sense of control carries into "Fury", which for a minute starts off delivering exactly what its title promises—until it doesn't. For a brief moment, the aggression is fully present, only to deflate and settle into a safer pace. The track isn't bad at all, but it flirts with ferocity rather than fully embracing it. It's not that the mid-tempo sections lack merit, but when the band reintroduces the aggression later in the track, it only serves to highlight the potential that was left untapped.

When Servant does allow themselves to break free and take the unrestrained approach, as they do on "Litany", the result is far more compelling and suits the band well. Here, the intensity doesn't feel measured or restrained—it simply is. This song is exactly what "Fury" tries to be and fortunately does not suffer from being toned down in the wrong moments. Exactly here emotions shine over sterility.

Of course, no modern black metal album would be complete without an unnecessary instrumental interlude, and "Hope" fulfills that obligation with four minutes of... well, hoping it will end soon. A missed opportunity where more aggression, more chaos, or even just a well-placed scream could have made all the difference.

Overall, Death Devil Magick is a more-than-solid album, one that suggests Servant is still on the right path. It improves on its predecessor, features more strengths than weaknesses, and—on a purely practical note—keeps its song titles refreshingly short. Because let's be honest, no one wants to read a title longer than the running time of the song itself. The potential is there, but next time, let the beast out of its cage a little more often.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10, because sometimes black metal needs less control and more blood on the walls.

Review by Norbert on January 4, 2026.

During the release party for the debut full-length album by this Warsaw-based band, vocalist Młynar teasingly blurted from the stage, "Hi, we're Abominated, and we play Swedish heavy metal," which sparked a flurry of jokes and comments. What kind of heavy metal is that? There were a few bands in Poland that, with varying degrees of success, tried to practice Swedish-style death metal in our hometown—with a distinctive sound generated by the Boss HM2 guitar pedal, punk d-beats, sometimes chaotic, more often heart-wrenching, skull-twisting riffs, heavily inspired by genre classics like Nihilist, Entombed, Grave, Dismember, Unleashed, etc. Now the guys from Abominated are doing it.

And they do it brilliantly, as evidenced by the release of Traumatic Putrefaction, released by Godz Ov War in collaboration with Behind The Mountain Records (vinyl and CD) and Destruktion Records (cassette). And although a considerable amount of time has passed since that album's release (the feathers of many a death metal maniac have already thinned somewhat during their occasional headbanging), I still enjoy revisiting this material from time to time. On my next return, I decided to write a little.

This half-hour miasma of death metal is a journey into territory where the genre's rather conventional lyrical carnage (Lovecraftian stories, serial killers, blood and violence) meets equally conventional sounds rooted in old-school death metal. There's no room for artistic exploration or trend-setting. No, that's not what the guys in Abominated are after. It doesn't matter that we've heard all these riffs before – they're good, very good, catchy, memorable, and, in their own death metal way, rocking. True live bangers! The songs aren't monotonous – the right dynamics and tempo changes are maintained, the vocals spew out scraps of poetry in keeping with the genre's finest standards, while the morbid vibrations and dark atmosphere are utterly absorbing. The Warsaw band deftly combines melody with death metal's miasma, heaviness, and groove. It's true, they apparently studied at music universities in Stockholm and Gothenburg, but they probably also heard the names Asphyx and Obituary. There's little innovation here, but plenty of passion and true death metal emotion.

Every time I put on Traumatic Putrefaction, I get goosebumps, and my head bobs rhythmically to the beat of each track. This terrifyingly unoriginal and captivatingly awesome album tastes like the finest alcohol. Cheers! Besides, just look at the cover. The essence of death metal awesomeness.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Michael on February 12, 2025.

Ah well, these were good old times when you could buy an album only because of its cover. I remember back in the 90s when stuff like "The End Complete", "Clandestine" or the super underrated "Dehumanizer" came out. Cover? Check! Music is probably great, too.

With the Polish band Abominated it is the same. I saw the cover and instantly asked for the album (thanks again for sending me and I'm really sorry for that delay in reviewing it!!). The really morbid cover is so early 90s – a fantastic job by Juanjo Castellano. There are so many similarities to the early classics by Dan Seagrave, alone this artwork is really worth mentioning.

But we are here mainly to talk about the music, I almost forgot. On Traumatic Putrefaction which is the debut album by the quintet from Warsaw you can find some pure, brutal old school death metal. Of course (and I guess that this will never ever happen again) they don't reinvent the death metal wheel but what they do here quite well is to combine some different country styles but like on most debuts, there is still some space for improvement.

While the opener "Forbidden Pleasures Of Self-Immolation (Opus Magnum .44)" is more or less some worship to the Swedish classics (preluded by a quite atmospheric intro that reminds me of some old Revel In Flesh), there are also some more brutal death metal vibes to find that are heavily inspired by bands like Immolation or Cannibal Corpse ("Stench Of Life"). Here and there are some really sick soli to fine like in "Sacrificial Defilement" or the title track which sometimes remind of good old fucking Slayer.

Entertaining and making the music a little bit more lighter and diverse are the catchier, groovy parts when the guys don't mutilate the listener but cause some blunt force trauma with a baseball bat. "Senseless Barbaric Insemination" (hell yeah, what a title!) starts with some creeping drumming but gets lost after one minute in some more brutal death metal not unlike a stinking bastard between first Dismember and old Cannibal Corpse and also the galloping part in "Blasphemous Convocation" is cool. The closer "Slave To Depravity" might be the catchiest one on the album which the band also could sell a lost Dismember track.

Talking about the instruments, the drums are pummeling relentlessly on the nine tracks as if there was no tomorrow (hats off to Ordynathor, their drummer), the guitars are buzzsawing like hell and vocalist Greg (the one or the other might know him from his other band Martyrdoom) is grunting and wheezing like hell. You can clearly hear that these guys know how to work with their instruments.

Technically they don't have to hide behind the bigger names I already dropped. Also the sound on Traumatic Putrefaction is really good; here Pawel Sota has done a really great job. But what in my humble opinion is sometimes missing is the red line in the compositions. Neither they are bad nor boring, but in some cases it sounds a little bit too chaotic. Their approach is absolutely comprehendible but sometimes a little bit less is a little bit more if you know what I mean. I guess if they had put some more catchy parts into the songs, they would keep in mind much easier. It is a really solid death metal album performed by skilled musicians but there are some nuances that are still lacking to play in the death metal Champions League.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10