We’re glad to announce that Hamburg, Germany-based metal band Divine Anger have released a new EP, entitled Guru of Hate.
Believe it or not, Divine Anger is a metal band from another dimension. How and why this shift happened is still a riddle to all! One moment, they were playing the biggest gig of their life in Wacken – on their side. Next, they woke up here, in a reality that is home to you but alien to them.
Now, the six musicians are on a journey to return home, and their first wish is to play their way into the ears and hearts of metalheads, with their expressive power metal – a style that ranges from melodic to aggressive but is always catchy as hell!
Everyone has heroes, and Divine Anger’s strongest influences are metal bands like Iced Earth, Helloween, Angel Dust, and Nocturnal Rites. At the same time, all band members enjoy the impact of more aggressive metal genres. So, you will mainly hear clean vocals in their songs, but you will also often hear screams, growls, or blends from these different vocal styles, inspired by subgenres like melodic death metal or alternative metal rather than specific bands.
Divine Anger was founded in 2015 by Barry Ross (bass) and Luke Krämer (guitars). The two school friends pushed their project passionately and formed a professional metal band in 2018. With Misaki Hayashi (synthesizers), J.J. (guitars), Damon (drums), and ART3M (vocals), Barry and Luke found irreplaceable comrades-in-arms, and today, they together form the permanent line-up of Divine Anger.
The band members come from different countries and are thus an international group. As in their founding year, their life and creative activity are centered in Hamburg (Germany). Although currently completely unknown in the metal scene, Divine Anger has already built up a reputation as a serious newcomer band in their dimension. Indeed, they were just one step away from signing their first record deal, which was to happen right after their gig in Wacken. But then, things changed.
On December 1, 2020 Divine Anger released their first single “Behind the Wall” in our dimension. A second single (“Always Now”) followed on February 20, 2021, and the third one (“Guru of Hate”) on May 7, 2021. On August 6, 2021 the band’s debut EP was unleashed on our ears. Divine Anger’s music has been featured in such media outlets as Rock Era, Powerplay Rock & Metal Magazine, Rock Hard Italy, and Demon Radio; and they have great social media fan base as well.
Divine Anger’s debut EP, The Guru of Hate, is a concept album. It sheds light on various events during WWII, which logically follow each other in time. Explaining the backstory behind the EP, the band writes, “The most important thing about our debut EP is that we want to evoke empathy and compassion in listeners. The cause is concrete (WWII), but the message is universal and timeless. We come from another dimension and therefore have some distance to things. We are all convinced in the band that this dimension needs more of the two qualities mentioned above. Hopefully we can make a small contribution to that with our first EP.”
For first-time listeners, Divine Anger say, “When you hear us for the first time, expect unbridled energy in every song. It’s very important to us that our songs have power to surprise and blow you away. Also, we tell a story with every song. Take your time: the more you dive in, the more the music will reward you. We firmly believe that there are still many metalheads out there who appreciate songs you can get into.”
The first song of the EP, “Guru of Hate,” plays at the extreme end of expressive power metal. Growling vocals, thundering double bass, down tuned guitars, and eerie synth sounds work synergistically to create so much power that no listener can miss the message of the track. “Guru of Hate” leads nicely into the next track, “Behind the Wall,” which carries the message that humble heroes never die, narrating the touching story of the Frank family, who had to hide from the Nazis during WWII. “Behind the Wall” immediately draws the listener in with a catchy, distorted guitar riff, soon joined by the precise, commanding drums and resounding bass. Growling and clean vocals highlight the anthemic choruses and compelling verses nicely throughout the track, which concludes with a captivating guitar solo.
“Always Now” tries something impossible, namely to tell the unspeakable. Its plot is set in one of the darkest chapters of human history, but points to something timeless: universal empathy. The track starts with a reflective introductory passage, the solemn guitar melodies and synth textures underscoring the dark lyrical themes quite well, before the track heads in a heavier direction as the commanding guitar riffs and thundering bass join in, highlighting the expressive vocals rather nicely. The next track, “D-Day,” is an anti-war song about the famous battle in Normandy, telling the horrors of this combat from the first-person perspective of a soldier with very poetic lyrics. “D-Day” is introduced by a chugging guitar riff and powerful sustained chords, before the time signature shifts and the track’s evocative lyrical passages begin, driven by the dynamic bass and drum rhythms.
The EP concludes with “When Angels Sleep,” which tells the story of The Goebbels couple, who killed their children shortly before the end of the war and then committed suicide, in the confused belief that they were doing something good. The song paints a grim picture of what might have awaited them afterwards, beginning with an eerie synth melody and somber clean-toned guitar chords, before the distorted riffs and powerful drums join in, complementing the track’s poignant lyrics quite well. At the same time that The Guru of Hate evokes compassion and empathy in the listener, it is also quite a compelling and enjoyable listen throughout; I would highly recommend this EP to all fans of metal.
Don’t forget to support this project and to follow on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Spotify. You can also check out their official website. It also helps to stream and share his music; you can obviously find it in the following Playlists: Less Than 1,000 Followers, Sickest & Dopest, and Hot Stuff Metal.
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