An Interview with Devoted Fusion

A single release from Devoted Fusion delivers some great blends of heavy metal and hard rock that take elements of old and new school approaches and blend them together, creating something that feels familiar and even a little nostalgic at times, but certainly hits hard and has a freshness to it as well.

"King of Equality (Re-Recorded)" features a very thrashy guitar tone, which helps drive the song through the roof in terms of its sonic presence, and the riffs are certainly heavy-hitting and come through with a bit of fire behind them.

I love the way the song is approached because again, it takes a little bit of classic metal and even elements of hardcore and puts those together so that you have something that packs a lot of punch but also is very melody-based at the same time.

The guitar work is outstanding throughout this entire track, and you can tell that there are a slew of influences involved from every member of this band.

These guys are a Long Island, New York-based group, and being from the East Coast myself, I can certainly hear an element of East Coast hardcore in there, along with even classic rock influence at times.

Now, don't get me wrong; this is a heavy track and definitely takes alternative rock and metal to heart with powerful progressions and this crazy energy that just becomes addictive.

The drumming across the track sits perfectly. It is always in the pocket, but it's also alive and breathing. It gives the song that liveliness as well, and I feel like a lot of this track feeds off of the power coming from those drums.

This is actually a track that feels almost like it was recorded live on the floor to an extent. It's all about this energy that they've captured here.

It feels like this was all done in the moment and everyone was feeding off of each other the entire time, and that's what gives the song this over-the-top kind of impact.

The vocals are well balanced in terms of keeping that energy level.

The vocalist adds a massive amount of melodic elements to this track and turns out these memorable hooks vocally that stick with you for hours after the song has ended.

There are also some outstanding changes here. This song definitely has a few surprises around its corners, including a whole time signature change that comes in with a bridge and an insanely heavy ending that showcases their more brutal sort of metal influences.

This really took all of these great elements from all those different heavy Rock genres and put them in one place, so it was able to deliver something kind of unique but again, but also familiar at the same time.

These guys certainly aren't reinventing the wheel with this track, but they're putting a fresh spin on it and putting a lot of heart into it as well.

You can tell this was most certainly done by a band who has a real love for their craft, and that comes through with every note.

Again, that live performance style energy is so powerful. Even if I'm wrong about the whole live on the floor recording aspect, this track makes you want to go see them perform it live, right in your face, simply because, if they can capture that kind of aesthetic and energy on record so well, then seeing it live must be awesome.

It's not super often that you come across a band you hear on record and immediately know they're going to be amazing in a live performance setting.

Listening to this track, that's exactly how I feel.

This was a track to be listened to nice and loud so that you can really soak everything in. Again, awesome changes, some great surprises, it gets heavier than you think, and it all comes together like puzzle pieces.

In case you didn't notice in the title, this was re-recorded. So, it's obvious this was a track they've had for a little bit, recorded it once, and then decided to go back and redo it.

While I'm certainly happy they did this, I wanted to know more about that.

I was lucky enough to have a chat with the band to find out where this came from and what may be coming next for them.

Here's what happened.

Sean: Thank you for the questions, Buzz Slayers Blog!  My name is Sean Cusack!  I am the lead guitarist, vocalist and manager of Devoted Fusion, and I’d be happy to answer everything for you about our latest single, “King of Equality (Re-Recorded)”!

Buzz Slayers: When was the original version released?

Sean: The original version of “King of Equality” was released as part of our first ever EP, “A Ride Earthbound”, in 2016.  This was a historical release for us and the memories we shared with it, however, there were some key factors to the mix that weren’t extremely sharp.  This was also a time when my vocals were on the weaker side, and I didn’t have the full energy as I have now.  This was the main reason for re-recording this song, and it then became the newest single, “King of Equality (Re-Recorded)” to release in 2023.

Buzz Slayers: I'm hearing a few different approaches to this record! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Sean: Our hard rock and progressive metal band is heavily influenced by Dream Theater, Tool, Opeth, TesseracT, Symphony X and much more around those bands.  So, if there are any fans that enjoy listening to these bands, Devoted Fusion should definitely be on the books to listen to.  The single that we released is mostly Symphony X influenced.

Buzz Slayers: Did you record this at a home setup, or at a big studio?

Sean: For this single, we recorded it at Westfall Studios in Long Island in New York.  Engineers Anthony Lopardo and Ray Marte were extremely helpful in the process of our recording, editing, mixing and mastering, and I highly recommend going to their studio if any rock or metal band is looking to record their music!

Buzz Slayers: Do you guys write songs together, or are there a few main songwriters that bring ideas back to the rest?

Sean: For a majority of our songs being written, I like to start the process on my own with songwriting.  “King of Equality” explains very much about leadership, and we all have our own sense of leadership in the talents that we bring to the table.  We may not be a leader in literally everything that goes on, but we know how to excel in the goals we know we can achieve.

Buzz Slayers: How did this all start for you as a band?

Sean: In 2016, me and my closest friend, Steve Santoriello (the drummer of this band), had decided to create music when I had initially thought of some songs to write.  “Adventure” was the first song that we wrote, and then “King of Equality” was written shortly after that.  Bassist Vinny Rotondo later joined to help out in the process, and we made the magic work in our favor with playing local shows at solid venues and recording quality music as well.

Buzz Slayers: Are you performing live right now? 

Sean: We have performed locally in the New York area for 9 years now, and we are going to get back into that when we have our next album ready to go!

Buzz Slayers: Now that this is out, what's next for you as a band?

Sean: Our current bassist, Jack Digiacomo (since 2018), and current drummer, Brett Senzer (since 2024), have done an excellent job with this new album that we are currently recording and editing as we speak!  The former members Steve and Vinny are HUGE fans of our work still, and they cannot wait to hear what we have in store!  The new album is planned to be released in early 2026, but I will consistently give updates on the progress through our social media pages!

Buzz Slayers: Who's in all your headphones right now?

Sean: Really?  It isn’t Devoted Fusion in my headphones right now?  LOL just kidding!  I absolutely love the progressive metal genre, and recently I’ve been listening to two progressive metal bands that I hadn’t ever heard of before:  Pagan’s Mind and Threshold.  They’re from out of the country and don’t really come to the United States that often, but they are absolutely worth checking out.  Some of their style has actually been an influence to some songs from our new album!  If you’re on the heavier side though, In Flames is definitely in my ears a lot!

Buzz Slayers: What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

Sean: On the release of our newest single, “King of Equality (Re-Recorded)”, expect the best of the best quality.  That’s our goal whenever we record and release music.  Progressive metal is intended to create a richer tone to the quality of the mix, and we are please to share that with every one of you!  With that being said, this next album that we’re working on will all be in-house recordings instead of in the studio.  However, we will not let anyone down on the quality perspectives!  We will aim to achieve success on this new album one way or another!

Buzz Slayers: Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music?

Sean: To the Devoted Fusion fans reading this, whether you are new or a long-time existing fan, we thank you incredibly for your support and your engagement with our music, and we are super excited to bring more heavy music for you to listen to in the near future!

SPOTIFY

INSTAGRAM

BANDCAMP

WEBSITE