Having to review a good and original album is always a nice thing, even if said record isn't of your favored style(s). Case in point, The Devil's Blood with this The Time Of No Time Evermore (TTONTE for short), and their psychedelic and melodic hard-rock.
Or something like that anyway. So let's elaborate… We're talking about hard-rock, right, very melodic at that, with catchy melodies and guitar lines; Thin Lizzy is obviously an influence here (among others). Speaking of the guitars, they can become pretty heavy at times, with dueling solos reminiscent of Thin Lizzy (again) or Iron Maiden (listen to "I'll Be Your Ghost", just for example. And then, psychedelia. The - vintage - sound of the whole stuff just plunges the listener back in the 70'… Or sometimes even farther away in time, as the moods are reminiscent of old black-and-white horror movies. Add to this the strange, often distant, sometimes ethereal or haunted, relatively high-pitched vocals vocals of F (she's the vocalist, and as anonymous as all other bandmembers), and you have a pretty unique mix. And, I said it before, I have to say it again, but that stuff is downright catchy. Mostly mid-tempo, but catchy.
The other noteworthy thing about The Devil's Blood is that they might well be the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing… After all, we metalheads are used to hear lyrics about satanism and other dark, occult stuff, in extreme metal, right? Well, melodic hard rock can be a vessel for those ideals too. Oh, it can sound so shiny, beautiful, and entrancing… But beware: evil inside! Coven was certainly a big influence, and it's no wonder Erik Danielsson from Watain wrote a song ("The Yonder Beckons") for them.
However great it is, this album might be a bit long, with its 55 minutes, for those of you who like their music to be extremely fast and aggressive. For the others, whether you like hard rock, trippy stuff and/or dark lyrics, you just have to listen to this TTONTE. Entrancing? Yep, for sure! One of the best hard rock releases this year? Indeed. (www.metalstorm.net)
