Band:	Rex Devs
Album:	Zodiaco
Style:	Melodic death metal
Release date:	May 2005

01. Preludio
02. Aries
03. Tauro
04. Geminis
05. Cancer
06. Leo
07. Virgo
08. Libra
09. Escorpio
10. Sagitario
11. Capricornio
12. Acuario
13. Piscis
14. Reflexion

Los Caballeros del Zodíaco

This is quite a surprise! I'm used to get albums from bands from Spain, and most of the Death Metal that comes from the Iberian Peninsula is brutal or gore, so when I received this I though I was in front of another devastating brutal attack from Spain, boy I was wrong!
The first thing that attracted me about this band was the concept of the album, the album title is Zodíaco, translated from Spanish: Zodiac (yeah that was a tough one right?) , the song titles goes from Aries to Pisces, so it's pretty clear that this is an album about the zodiacal signs.

Anyway, as you might see I took the liberty of labeling the genre these guys are playing, I named them "Dramatic Death Metal" because there's a dramatic touch in each song, maybe is the female vocals that accompany the Death growls/Black shrieks all the time, maybe is the keyboards, always in the back creating a perfect atmosphere, or sometimes in front doing amazing solos, maybe is the fact that these guys sing in Spanish, god I don't know but this sounds really dramatic to me.

The album starts with the rather long intro "Preludio" where you can hear for the first time the Death-female voice duet. Immediately next is "Aries" one of my favorite songs in the album, the keyboard arrangements are just amazing here, and that piano solo is also great stuff. "Tauro" has a calm beginning, then slowly builds up to the point of brutality.

The compositions are quite melodic, songs like "Cáncer" "Acuario" and "Leo" will be stuck in your mind for weeks, specially those keyboards, they truly are the essence of the dramatic feel of Rex Devs (Rex Deus).

Of course not everything is perfect, being this a self-released effort, the production and the sound quality is not the best?yet. I can imagine this band with a proper production (bringing the vocals more upfront, tuning up the double bass pedals and adding real strings?) and with a good record deal. I really like this band; they're possibly the new hope of Death Metal, totally recommended.