Devilyn exists for more than 11 years now, and during that period they, like many bands before them, have accumulated a heap of material that has never been released. Usually such a release is only interesting for the band itself and for the most fanatic fans. With The Past Against The Future this is also the case but if you are one of the aforementioned fans this document is highly enjoyable.

The Past Against The Future offers us the first demo (entitled “The Rule”) under their former name Cerebral Concussion recorded in 1994, a three track promo from 2000, a cover song in the form of Carcass`s “Heartwork” and it even features a video clip of the track “Reborn In Pain”.

The demo-recording is of course remastered, I don`t know the original tape but it still sounds truly underground. The music is a very Morbid Angel and Death influenced type of death metal, with a really low grunt. Two of the six tracks made it to the debut full length of Devilyn, namely “The Rule” and “Shadow Of Acheron”.

The promo recordings are way faster, the grunt is pitched higher and over the years Devilyn picked up quite a lot of technical abilities. The songs are more structured and this doesn`t sound at all like the demo sessions. You can hear the progression the band made over the years, although the line-up also changed significantly. The only audio track left on the cd is the cover song “Heartwork” from legendary grinders Carcass. I don`t know the original but I really enjoyed this version.

The dessert is a professionally filmed video clip of “Reborn In Pain”. The image quality is top notch but the format of the clip is way too small, which is a pity. Given the fact that this album is comprised of bits and pieces lying around on the shelve I feel it`s not appropriate to rate this release. If you like Devilyn or old death metal in general it`s a save buy.
Devilyn website