What I love about the modern age of metal more than anything is how many bands and releases that have since called it a quits before the turn of the century now have a much better chance of their truly obscure material finding an audience now as we have so many labels that can reach across the world, YouTube, Bandcamp, and a much larger community that can spread releases just through word of mouth. It’s led to many unknown demos and albums crawling back to us from the 90s and earlier to be re-released for modern listeners. There’s a special ferocity to works that are resurrected and their excellence somehow stands the test of time, and it’s Ahret Dev’s resurrected original debut that perfectly embodies that concept.

It’s fun to delve into recent releases that constantly label themselves as “old school” to see how well the band in question can bring back that special flame that constantly has us puny moths swarming around in earnest for a new meal. But, like many things, there’s no real good substitution for the real thing and it’s with each fiery offering that “Hellish” brings to the table that we get a voracious display of excellence like very few others. Everything about what Ahret Dev brings to the table is magnificent to experience as it feels just like being back in the 90s where you’d have to scour the record store in order to find something as tantalizing as this, and for someone who wasn’t around to experience that it’s quite special from start to finish. “Hellish” leaves no room for survivors as it constantly eviscerates all in its path with eight tracks of the most heinous flame that is all-consuming and surprisingly infectious with Ahret Dev consistently bringing technical finesse alongside classic raw nastiness that really knows how to draw the listener in.

It’s by the time “Hellish” grinds to a halt that Ahret Dev has devastated our ears with classic excellence that many bands dream of accomplishing and it’s awesomely fun to just listen to over and over again. Ahret Dev has really crafted something that is not to be underestimated and if this is but the start for a return from Ahret Dev, I can’t be any more excited for what they could potentially have in store.

“Hellish” releases on October 7th via Godz ov War Productions!

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