Divine Heresy: Bleed The Fifth

Hype is strong thing to live up to. Anytime that an artist is in direct comparison with himself, it is also a very hard thing to live up to. Being heralded as the savior of an entire genre before the masses have even heard a note, leads to huge expectations. Enter ex Fear Factory/Brujeria co-founder, guitarist Dino Cazares and his new band, Divine Heresy. Their debut CD, Bleed The Fifth (Century Media) has been long awaited with much baited breath. But can Divine Heresy live up to the hype machine?

Bleed The Fifth is a 10 track CD filled with just about everything that you'd expect from Dino Cazares, Machine Gun guitar riffs, hyper speed double bass drums and growling, brutal vocals. Divine Heresy is Cazares on guitar, Tim Yeung (Vital Remains/Hate Eternal) on drums and newcomer vocalist, Tommy Vext. The three make up a powerful trio full of Deathcore speed and Fear Factory-ish brutality with a sense of melody. Bombastic at times with over the top speed for speed sake syncopation but Divine Heresy does bring the heavy with a lot of passion and attitude.

Not wanting to carve out a carbon copy of what he started with Fear Factory, Cazares does use some of the formula that got him here, but Divine Heresy is truly a different animal. The guy also has a knack for finding drummers who can play at the speed of light! Drummer Tim Yeung's foot speed is unbelievable. The legendary machine gun riffs are a Dino Cazares trademark and mix those with the lightning fast drumming of Yeung and you have a fierce combination. Add new singer, Tommy Vext, who brings those haunting styled vocals with course growls that have been parallel to Cazares career, while also being more melodic when needed. And when called upon to really sing, Vext shows that he has a good range and voice

Bleed The Fifth sees Dino Cazares playing some guitar solos. Yes you read it right, guitar solos! I was surprised myself. While Mr. Vai is safe with the virtuoso tag, Dino does add some flavoring to the brutality. It's cool to hear some solos for a change. Now don't get me wrong, this is NOT a Fear Factory record, but anything that Dino Cazares plays on does have that FF vibe to it. His riffing is so unique that it is instantly recognizable. Does anyone have a better right hand than Dino?

Does Divine Heresy live up to all of the hype? Yes and no. At first listen I didn't think so, but this is one of those CD's that needs to be listened to a few times to get it. Is Divine Heresy the new front runners of 21st Century Metal? No. But Bleed The Fifth is a solid record that gets better with each listen.

Dino Cazares stands for what modern era of Metal is today, Hell, he helped make it! But Fear Factory faithfuls might be a bit disappointed at first glance of Bleed The Fifth. It does take a bit getting used to, but as I said in the beginning, when you are being compared to what you have already done in the past with a different band, it is hard to live up to what you have already done. Divine Heresy has delivered an interesting record, but it doesn't reinvent the wheel. But it will be interesting to see what comes next from them. Dino Cazares is back and ready to prove that he hasn't lost what he helped to build.

Track Listing

1. Bleed The Fifth
2. Failed Creation
3. The Threat Is Real
4. Impossible Is Nothing
5. Savior Self
6. Rise Of The Scorned
7. False Gospel
8. Soul Decoded (Now & Forever)
9. Royal Blood Heresy
10. Closure

Added: August 20th 2007
Reviewer: Butch Jones
Score:
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