There's nothing like a hearty helping of heavy handed heathenized Blackened Death Metal to kick off the new year, and DEVIAN inaugurates us all with a grand vision of divine darkness. Birthed from the hell wrought caverns of the maniacal minds of ex-MARDUK members Legion (vocals) and Emil Dragutinovic (drums), DEVIAN's landmark inception into the world of Blackened Death Metal is a momentous occasion, unleashing upon the world a deadly serpent whose venom will course through the veins of the industry for what will hopefully be eons. Those that mourned the passing of the MARDUK era should find ample solace in the intensity, consistency, and devastating capacity invoked through the lethal voracity of "Ninewinged Serpent".

The brilliant thing about DEVIAN and the songs presented on "Ninewinged Serpent" is that they have nothing to do with focusing on how fast the band can play or how balls out brutal they can be; the magic is in the fact that, as musicians, they simply know what sound they need and they know how to create it. This disc is atmospherically evil, precise in its lethality, and unpressured by any expectations save for those of the members themselves. Some songs are certainly scorchers, such as "Jackal", others are Thrash-tinged riff dominated monoliths like the scorcher "Scarred", while others like "Gemini Is The Snake" and "Ninewinged Serpent" rely on superbly paced instrumentation driven by rhythm oriented, top notch vocal seething courtesy of the instantly identifiable Legion. The point is, there is no blueprint to "Ninewinged Serpent" dictated by what predecessors have established in the past; the majesty that is this album rests solely on the shoulders of a group of musicians with enough insight and self-awareness to know the precise mix of every aspect required to craft an album that makes DEVIAN a band in full control of their own sound and destiny.

Despite the considerable notoriety that comes with hailing from a groundbreaking legendary band like MARDUK, there's no confusing the two. Legion and Emil have gathered together a batch of superb musicians able to transcend the shadows of the past to invoke a completely different demon in and of itself, fangs fastening tightly to the jugular and injecting a most potent musical venom, terminally infectious and increasingly deadly with each listen. This "Ninewinged Serpent" soars far above the competition, casting its withering shade over both what is and what is yet to be in 2008; truly this will be an album for posterity. "No one will save us, and who would want to be saved?"