Produced by Mark Lewis (Whitechapel, Trivium, DevilDriver, Black Dahlia Murder)
Grande Prairie, Canada’s Devolver continues its sonic assault with the release of a new anime video for the track “Suffocating Syndrome” taken from their sophomore album “Non Compos Mentis,” unleashed this past August. Produced by genre heavyweight Mark Lewis (Whitechapel, Trivium, DevilDriver), “Non Compos Mentis” marks a seismic evolution in Devolver’s sound, melding Gothenburg-style melodic death metal with the raw intensity of early 2000s metalcore.
Unlike many tracks on the album, “Suffocating Syndrome” emerged with minimal rewrites in the studio, its raw intensity and emotional weight intact from the demo stage. The song explores themes of mental illness, delving into dementia, dissociative identity disorder, and the erosion of self-identity. It’s a sonic descent into psychological fragmentation, mirrored by the anime video’s surreal, fractured visuals.
Guitarist Jayde Penner shares:
“I pulled some inspiration from Psycroptic for the verse riff of this one. The structure is fairly simple, with each riff changing slightly each time it comes back. The melodic chorus is a really cool contrast to the heavy, noodly nature of the rest of the track, and I think features some of Chris’s best vocal work. The song culminates in a huge soaring chorus at the end with a super tasty solo mixed in, then comes crashing to an insane, chaotic ending that will surely leave some soiled pants.”
The anime video amplifies this emotional chaos, blending glitchy, hyper-detailed animation with disturbing symbolism, shattered mirrors, flickering identities, and collapsing landscapes that echo the song’s lyrical descent. It’s not just a visual companion; it’s a psychological echo chamber, capturing the disorientation and violence of a mind unraveling.
Watch and listen to the anime video for “Suffocating Syndrome” via its premiere on Space Untravel YouTube channel;
Formed in 2015 by guitarist Devin Babcock as a creative outlet for material that didn’t fit his previous band, Devolver has grown into a five-piece force of nature. With members also active in the local project Dog Poison, the band’s roots run deep in the underground scene.
“Non Compos Mentis” features a refined tracklist culled from over 20 demos, each song built collaboratively from riffs and skeletons crafted by guitarists Devin Babcock and Jayde Penner. The result is a relentless, emotionally charged journey that’s both technically precise and soulfully raw.
The haunting title track draws from a chilling true story: the 1805 murder of Amos Babcock’s sister in a religious frenzy, an ancestor of Devin Babcock. The album artwork, created by legendary metal illustrator Travis Smith (Opeth, Avenged Sevenfold, Soilwork), depicts Amos bloodied in the snow, surrounded by the ghostly eyes of his nine children.
“We think Non Compos Mentis will be embraced by fans of our first album; it’s a huge evolution of our sound. Our first album was a passion project for Devin, but this record is what the five of us sound like collaborating as a unit. The razor-sharp production from Mark Lewis helped us push this thing over the edge, into something we think people will grab onto. We want to give people the feeling we felt when we first heard our favourite bands, and the albums that made us fall in love with music,” adds the band.
Recommended for fans of In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Killswitch Engage, and As I Lay Dying, “Non Compos Mentis” is a bold leap forward, each track a chapter in a larger emotional and sonic narrative.