DevaNexus - Hybrid

It is difficult to find something that stands out within the darksynth field; DevaNexus, a producer from Germany, speaks of his influences within the scene as Carpenter Brut, Perturbator, and SIERRA, each of whom have carved a wondrous and niche path for themselves. It’s hard to argue with their infamy; the aggressive beats of Carpenter Brut, the dancefloor artistry of Perturbator, and the cinematic essence that makes SIERRA who she is. A unique identity to each that cannot be copied even though so many have blindly aimed to do so. Even going so far as to list Vangelis, someone who’s not even related to the field, yet still an unstoppable juggernaut as far as movie scores go. But influences can only go so far; lists can only bring you so far. There’s no tragedy found within DevaNexus’ music but nothing that really separates it from the horde of other producers attempting to engage in a similar reputation. 

What I find difficult about these kinds of review is finding something to say about the album. Here’s where DevaNexus succeeds: his production is decent, plenty of crunchy beats and layers that intertwine with one another without muddling up the whole affair. His music is catchy and makes me bob my head, that’s for sure. But the failure lies within the compositions themselves; while I feel as if this is good, and okay, this is something that I’d put on more as background music and less as something that I would seek to enjoy. Not a personal playlist or anything of the like, and it’s hard to identify something unique about DevaNexus. 

Some of his songs go too long for no reason, as well. My first play of the album landed me with ‘Sea of Stars’ which lasted for six minutes. Further down the line I got to ‘The Glass Lake’, which lasts for around six-minutes and forty-one seconds. While I was interested for the first two-minutes or so, the cyberpunk-inspired beats only carried me for so long before my mind wandered into other territory and I was wishing I was listening to something a bit more dynamic and fun. 

If I’m repeating myself, that’s okay. But DevaNexus fails to land an identity for himself. Rather than making a new mold, he’s filling in ones previously discarded and used repeatedly. Go to any other darksynth playlist on Spotify or YouTube and I guarantee you’ll find a boatload of similar sounding songs that could have been whipped up by any other producer on that playlist. 

Now, sure, if you’re in the mood for dramatic cyberpunk music in the darksynth field, this will do fine. I could easily see it being used as background music for a TTRPG night where the players are fighting against their DM in a futuristic setting. But other than that use, I fail to find a reason this would be entertained over other artists within the scene.  

On the other hand, DevaNexus did release a pretty cool music video for their song 'Project Ni-O'. Check it out: