#VAGABONDZREVIEW: DENIGRATE - SONATA DEL DIAVLO

Good day to you guys out there! Finally, it's time for me to return and I can't be more excited at the moment!

For those months I was absent (and basically absent-minded for writing reviews) there was some music I was listening to. The one song I’ve fallen with immediately was Sonata Del Diavlo from Denigrate. For many times I’ve listened to that masterpiece the only conclusion I’ve made - it’s the song I definitely needed for a long time. Not only combines it the gloomy and mild tunes but also contains truly surprising, exploding and tearing moment. That's why I've decided to tell you more about this song and band.

DENIGRATE - SONATA DEL DIAVLO (OUT NOW VIA INVERSE RECORDS)

Bio

Since Denigrate was found back in '96, the inevitable vibe of the band was to be dark, melancholy, tormented, observative. The quantity of albums released is really not the thing in this band. From the first released album in 2003 to the latest 3rd one in 2022 called Blackguard, decades has changed and so has the band. After no more than two albums released, after big-time local momentum with a finnish cover song, after mandatory hiatus, after some line-up changes, Denigrate 2022 is at it's hardest core. Blackguard takes you deep, slowly, irreparably. It's the place where all beauty and evil befalls.

The single Sonata Del Diavlo is the second single from the Blackguard album.

As far as I'm concerned...

Sonata Del Diavlo has peaceful instrumental intro which is made in truly mesmerizing way. Already with the first notes came, I predicted the intro to be really long and lingering, but the actual intro result exceeded all my expectations. The clean guitars leisurely entering the game are just catching my breath and it feels I start drifting away from reality when listening to those deeper. This melody is truly outstanding demonstrating the brightest feature of Finnish music - the great deal of melodics and melancholy. There have been much gloomy shades presenting and I'm sure I gonna like the entire composition so much. What else I find mesmerizing here is the appearance of background speech that provides the song with even darker features. The complete sound results in incredibly touching and captivating composition. On this stage, I'm waiting for the real hurricane to come.

Sonata Del Diavlo has finally erupted in genuine Finnish melodeath way. With the lead guitar solo dominating over the sound field, I feel I start falling into this soft and heavy sound. To make a comparison I can fetch Insomnium - one of my top favorites amongst melodeath bands. The intro melody lasts for pretty long to let me absolutely enjoy it. In my own rating I can surely give this song more bonus points for longer melodies as far as they let me disclose their authentic style. As to accomplish the sound, there comes changes in drums pattern and the following guitar sound gets rather more piercing. The tempo is a bit increased now and it feels even more massive and powerful to make a perfect bridge to the next Sonata Del Diavlo part.

Drawing a parallel with the intro, now the song gets even more penetrative and bewitching, thanks to the vocal part entering. Just to let you know, those deep, thoughtful and low vocals has been my favorite since I dived into gothic music as a teenager. Now it feels like I'm catching a nice vibe from 90-00s bands playing gothic metal and darker music. The vocalist's singing style strongly reminds me of Jyrki 69's - from the deathless records like Paris Kills or Blessed Be. Moreover, to make the entire sound even deeper and lower, the great energy of bass was taken into advantage. Hence, the sound is clean but thoroughly deep in all means, although the prevailing deepness is picked out by nice background melodics.

Every feature placed in Sonata Del Diavlo makes huge impact on entire sound. Even some shadowy whispers causing great thrill should be mentioned. Additionally, it was an effective way to join song parts and transform the song from the peacefulness to the heaviness. The incredible intro melody repeats and now it's colored with breathtaking vocal part.

Sonata Del Diavlo verse pattern repeats to let enjoy it once more, although the chorus part is modified to be made sharper and thrilling. The intoxicating mixture of peacefulness and thrill is created by leads - vocals and guitar. It feels like the song is ready to explode with some feature it still keeps inside. Maybe it's not the time yet. It's once again amazing to listen peaceful melodic and background speech adding more exclusive features to this song. The tempo seems to be over slowly and surely it's pretty close to explode...

The rough blast beats make it erupt and explode! Needless to say, this part of the song is all about surprises and bright feelings arrived. With loud and enchanting lead guitar melodics, there comes growls - something I wasn't expecting at all! In this changed theme, I've personally gave in to enormous power situated. It's a real surge of adrenaline, and I have the same feelings when listening to Insomnium as their music has much similarity to Sonata Del Diavlo. All the peaceful feelings are now collapsed into great power of heavy metal. Unfortunately, it's the end of the song as it starts fading away, but what a beautiful melodics are finishing it all the way out!

Last but not least

After I've listened to this magical song again, it's time to sum the things up. Among the outstanding writing skills, I need to mention top of the range Sonata Del Diavlo sound production. I would like to mention lower range section as the best possible mood builder for this song. The sound of bass taking you into eternity and the gloomy, dark vocals are something making this song truly cool. Moreover, the breaking moment when the peace is changed for action was something I could possibly expect and those kinda surprises are the best to face when listening to a song. We all need those feelings.

As far as Denigrate have already released their brand new Blackguard album, it feels like I need to listen entire record to make my sight more defined and open some new features Denigrate could possibly add.

DENIGRATE line up:

Galzi Kallio - vocals

Pekka Pyrhönen - bass

Seppo Nummela - guitar

Tipi Toivanen - drums