Canada's DEVOLVER New Anime Video "Suffocating Syndrome" Off New Album "Non Compos Mentis" Produced by Mark Lewis!
- Jason Hesley
- Sep 10, 2025
- 1 min read
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.
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