The latest album from DC Metro Area native Dev Gajan entitled High Alchemy has been proving extremely successful with the artist’s current fans and has also helped to bring in a ship load of new fans. Since being released on the 26th of February certain songs on the album have managed to collect tens of thousands of streams with the highest streaming track currently at over 50,000 streams with no sign of slowing down.
The name, artwork and general vibe for High Alchemy should be a nice homage to most people who spent their teen years in the 2000’s, or later. The album was named after a spell from the MMORPG Runescape, which personally I think is a brilliant touch as, like many other of Dev Gajan’s listeners, I grew up playing the game.
The general vibe of this album perfectly blends a warming sense of youthfulness and teenage angst. This is achieved by mixing a lot of elements from early 2000’s Pop Punk, Post Hardcore, Southern Hip Hop and Trap. This amalgamation of styles helps the album to earn the title of High Alchemy.
The 9th track on the album ‘Mystery’ with Axl Sin is a perfect example of how alchemical this album really is. Fusing Metalcore/Post-Hardcore instrumentation and vocal with trap beats and electronic elements, all of which are brought into the track at different intervals, but seem to feel right where they are supposed to be. I’ve witnessed many other artists try to do similar things however when each section is brought in, it feels like it stands out too much and doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the track, which is to be expected when attempting such a feat. This only emphasises Dev Gajan’s talent.
This album also hosts a number of collaborations. Most notably producer Charlie Shuffler on the song ‘Might as well’ and ‘I Don’t Know What To Do’. Another standout name on the album is Mackned, part of the collective GothBoiClique, on ‘Things I’ve Started’.
In my personal opinion the stand out songs on this album are ‘Things I’ve Started’, ‘Run from Me’ and ‘How did it end up like this’. A couple of honourable mentions are ‘Opposition’ feat Luvistrash and ‘What I’m Bout’ feat 30 Flocka. Both of these honourable mentions have more of a Trap or Drill vibe than the rest of the album.
High Alchemy is out now on all of the usual streaming platforms.
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Review by Kane McEvoy
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Despite this album fusing so many genre elements together, somehow despite everything, it works so well. Love this one; nice choice, my friend.