Artist: The Devine Xperience
Album: The Devine Xperience
Genre: Electronica, Breaks

Blending just about every known sub-genre of EDM, The Devine Xperience crank out 49 minutes of electronic sounds, beats, and samples in an 11-track self-titled debut (including three remixes) that falls flat of living up to its name. However, if you’ve got the better part of an hour to spaz out with meandering, experimental productions then this might just be for you.

It’s certainly not all aimless tinkering and sample overuse, though — there are killer trill beats occasionally and moments that will surely get you moving. All three remixes included do the source material justice and add an upswing of flair that the album may have been lacking otherwise. The trap beats in “Strange Mutation” are solid and the breakbeat chaos of “Alien Dust” will certainly trip you out. The positives are no doubt here, I personally just had to explore a bit to find them, but at the same time, I feel that exploring is what this album is all about.

For the most part, however, I felt as though I was standing in the corner of an art gallery that was showing “daring” or “brilliant” modern art pieces that I couldn’t even begin to understand or connect with. My eyes, like those of a lost child, scan the room in hopes to spot something familiar or comforting. All the while, a DJ stands at his workspace, nodding, in his own little world playing music that fits the scene but doesn’t manage to translate in my ears and mind.

Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic, but maybe you understand where I was heading with that. I’ve literally been in that place, so the notion comes from experience.

Many parts of the album that I felt could have been great feel toned down and flat, or get interrupted by obnoxious samples that feel tacked on and out of place. It’s unfortunate as there’s so much potential involved in this record. I fully understand the desire to be unique and stray from the path, and in a genre filled with mediocrity and a flood of homogeneous acts, the courage to actually step outside of that zone and create music that might not appeal to everyone that typically enjoys your standard fare EDM is commendable. In the end, though, as with almost anything, it all comes down to preference and a matter of opinion.

I’ve always been a firm believer in the popular idiom “don’t judge a book by its cover” and as The Devine Xperience‘s album art was the first aspect of the outfit that I was greeted with, I chose to ignore its cheesiness and experience the album with an open mind. The music may not be “cheesy” per se, but I feel that this may be a case where judging the album by its cover art might not necessarily be ill-advised. As mentioned, there are definitely moments scattered throughout that are enjoyable, and the remixes are solid enough, but overall, this effort from TDE isn’t for me. Don’t take my word for it, though–check it out here and decide for yourself.

SCORE: 4/10
Review written by Brian Lion — (Follow him on Twitter)

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Brian Leak

Editor-In-Chief. King of forgetting drinks in the freezer. Pop culture pack rat. X-Phile. LOST apologist.

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