In northern Alberta, where the nearest show often means hours on the highway, building a metal band with staying power takes stubborn intent. For DEVOLVER, the release of their sophomore album Non Compos Mentis in August 2025 is less a simple next step than the result of six years of holding the line, waiting until the record could be made exactly the way they envisioned it.
Formed in 2015 by guitarist Devin Babcock as a vehicle for songs that didn’t fit his previous band, DEVOLVER grew into a five–piece force drawing equally on Gothenburg–style melodic death metal and the surging metalcore of the early 2000s.
Those roots are obvious, but the new album is also marked by the decision they took in 2019: not to cut corners, not to rush. “We made a decision in 2019 to not half ass this thing and to honestly do the absolute best available to us,” the band explains.
That meant waiting out the pandemic, holding onto their material until they could record with their “bucket list” producer Mark Lewis, known for his work with WHITECHAPEL, TRIVIUM, DEVILDRIVER, and THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER.
The collaboration sharpened DEVOLVER’s sound into something both technically precise and emotionally raw, a leap forward from their debut. The visual side was treated with equal intent.
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The artwork, created by Travis Smith (OPETH, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, SOILWORK), pulls from a grim family history: the title track references the 1805 murder committed by Babcock’s ancestor Amos Babcock in a fit of religious frenzy, one of the earliest recorded murder cases in New Brunswick. Smith’s depiction of Amos bloodied in the snow, surrounded by the eyes of his children, ties the record’s lyrical weight to a disturbing Canadian past.
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The process was far from linear. Their drummer, Bevin Booth, suffered a shoulder injury late in the timeline, forcing the group to delay the release rather than push forward without him. “Not wanting to proceed and play shows without him we delayed the release further. He’s on the mend and back behind the kit, and we’re honestly so proud of him,” the band notes. When the album finally launched, it did so with a celebratory twist: DEVOLVER partnered with a local craft brewery to create a beer in honor of Non Compos Mentis, releasing both the record and the brew at a hometown release show inside the brewery itself.
The collaboration came to life with Grain Bin Brewing, a local craft brewery in Grande Prairie, Alberta, who brewed a special release beer to mark the occasion. The band launched Non Compos Mentis and the beer with a release show held inside the brewery, joined by local acts Nazzy, Matt Stanyer, and Lero, making the night a celebration of both community and music.
The sound of the album reflects the band’s strongest influences. “We’re so massively influenced by the metalcore and melodeath of the mid 2000s. We think our sound is a beautiful reflection of those influences, and I personally feel this sound is due for a revival in a big way, and am so happy to be playing this style of music that made me want to play an instrument,” they share.
For a group from a small northern city, every move has required deliberate effort—whether it was recruiting the right collaborators, waiting until circumstances lined up, or carrying material through years of delay. Non Compos Mentis is the document of that persistence: an album shaped by distance, disruption, and devotion to the sound that first made them want to pick up instruments.
