Category: Album Reviews, News
Tags: Devil

Occult- flavored metal bands are so numerous these days, it’s only a matter of time before we revert to an 80s- style“Satanic Panic”, complete with “cult experts”, impressionable teenagers, bat- chewing rock stars and backwards messages in albums. Or at least I hope so. In any case, with so many bands around swearing allegiance to Lucifer, a backlash is inevitable. Old school Merciful Fate fans are already bitching about Ghost ripping- off King Diamond and it’s true that the Satanic niche is getting a bit crowded.

Norway’s Devil are following up an impressive demo with Time to Repent, their debut. Initially, they don’t seem to be doing anything particularly new. They sound like one of those early 80s bands that nobody gave a fuck about the first time round and that are now rightly aknowledged as classic. I am thinking of NWOBHM pioneers like Witchfinder General, Anger Witch or Demon and cult heroes like Cirith Ungol and Manilla Road. Not that Devil sound specifically like one of these bands (well, maybe Witchfinder General), but one gets the feeling that their fans would enjoy Time to Repent a lot, if they could stop grumbling about how music died in 1983 for a second.

This is beer- drinking, Satan- quoting heavy metal and is ridiculously enjoyable as such. The production is a bit too rough (and I suspect this has more to do with CVLT credentials than lack of funds), but the songs are catchy and the title song is already a metal classic as far as I’m concerned. It’s too early to tell whether Devil will last, but I am definitely interested in what they ‘ll do next.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

About the Author: CnB