Divine Anger – Guru of Hate (2021)
With their debut EP Guru of Hate, Divine Anger are blasting through our ears with their expressive metal sound. A concept EP that takes on different events during WWII, the tracks shed light on these moments while encouraging listeners to grow from the experience. A heavy topic to take on with their first EP outing, but one that really showcases their lyrical prowess and the true emotive powers of metal tones when in the right hands.
The extremely engaging metal tones come from a band that is completely out of this world. Barry Ross (bass) and Luke Krämer (guitars) are two school friends who started playing together in 2015 before forming the permanent line-up with Miskai Hayashi (synths), J.J. (guitars, Damon (drums) and ART3M (vocals). Coming from different countries, they each bring a new edge to the sound of the band and are sure to make a serious dent in the metal scene through the sounds of this EP.
The title track ‘Guru of Hate’ blasts the EP into life with thundering tones and powerful melodics. The thrumming of the guitars and drums vibrate through your chest with their pure power. As the metal tones punch their way into your brain, the synths rise with an eerie vibe to create texture and depth to the soundscape. Through all of this, ART3M’s vocals crash into your ears and have you wanting to shout out with them. The interplay between the growling vocals and the soaring guitars is rather epic and tells a story all on its own that you really can’t miss.
‘Behind the Wall’ grabs your attention with the guitars that pulse through your ears and bounce off the deep beats. The drums burst into a flurry of tones that is truly impressive as the vocals growl out the story of the Frank family hiding during the wall. The chorus soars with a delightful melodic flow that is an amazing contrast to the shouting growls that opened the track. There are a lot of layers to this track that work together for a song that is entirely too engaging for its own good. You are driven to thrash by the opening only to sing along on the chorus and give in to the melodic metal movements of the later parts of the track. This is easily a track that you can listen to again and again.
There is a very different vibe to the opening of ‘Always Now’ reaches out with expansive fingers toward the horizon. This is mixed with a feeling of fog that gives way to the burst of guitars. The easiness of the opening is enhanced by the vocals which also turn with the guitars. There is a creeping sense of something coming woven into the track while the lyrics push listeners toward a message of understanding. The falsettos in this track are a thing of beauty as they rise through your senses and take the entire track to a new level.
‘D-Day’ thrums and marches into your sense with a combative feeling. The guitars get your heart racing and you can feel your muscles coiling in anticipation of a burst into activity. This all comes to a head with the running tones of the vocals that dive into a tale of the horrors of war from the perspective of a soldier. You can feel the tension and uncertainty of battle through the vocals. The chorus is like a punch to the chest as the poetic lyrics question why they are fighting before diving back into the horrors of death and destruction. It is a very hard-hitting track that brings the terrible costs of war to a really engaging metal soundscape.
The EP comes to an end with the light music-box notes of ‘When Angels Sleep’. The track combines the waltzing tones of a music box with the innocence of youth and murder-suicide. The light tones are shaken from the core as the track imagines what awaited the Goebbels couple after they killed their children then committed suicide. The vocals really fly on the track as they reach into your soul and shake your insides. The dichotomy of the opening and the rest of the track allows the story of the single to really shine through.
Divine Anger is hitting the ground running and sure to make a serious splash on the metal world with their debut EP Guru of Hate. Through the conceptual tracks, the band punches you in the chest with the sheer power of their sound and the emotive echoes of metal. While the songs dive into moments of war, there is a message woven through the EP that calls for us to learn from what happened and grow as a collective.
Find out more about Divine Anger on their website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
