REVIEW: Devil Electric - "The God's Below" (EP)

By: Gerardo Pacheco

Album Type: EP
Release date: 06/06/2016
Label: Independent

Hailing from the Melbourne, Australia, Devil Electric unleash a bevy combination of, ‘riffs of old and new in a collision of unholy matrimony’.

“The God’s Below” DD//7" track listing:

1.Devil's Bells (05:42)

2.The Dove & The Serpent (05:19)

3.Confusion of Mind (03:56)

4.Holy Ghost (06:00)

The Review:

As society continues to rightfully empower women in all areas of gender equality, rock seems to be following the trend. Female fronted bands are nothing new in the industry, but the recent rise of groups such as Blues Pills, Psychedelic Witchcraft, Castle, among others, further proves it is increasing exponentially and welcome by almost everyone in the scene.

Hailing from the Melbourne, Australia, Devil Electric unleash a bevy combination of, I quote from their site, ‘riffs of old and new in a collision of unholy matrimony’. It may sound pretentious, but we all have to agree that when a week after releasing an EP you gain label contract attention, either they've sold their souls to the devil or they put their money where their mouths are. Home of fine acts such as Ruby The Hatchet and Mammothwing it was a no brainer putting pen to paper with teuton stoner label Kozmik Artifactz.

The rite is short for those keeping time, 21 minutes worth, which commences with “Devil’s Bells”, where the main riff lurks like a giant powering through a beer mile. Riding on top of that lumbering beast is evil sorceress Pierina O’Brien, leading the chant with some soulful vocal work. It is noteworthy to comment at this juncture on the production value, for which rookie Aussie native Tom Glover is responsible for. For this EP to be a self-release, the quality is very respectable. The track then takes a left turn near the end towards doom/prog territory, releasing us from the dark brooding atmosphere that crept thru the first minutes of the record.

We then move on to “The Dove & The Serpent”, which carries on with the doom mood to then bridge over to Christos’ guitar tip-toeing like a ghost on eggshells, until it reaches the chorus to bring us full circle with the opening structure. Like in "Devil’s Bells", a hard turn is made towards heavy metal grounds as the song progresses and unwinds, literally. A classic rock intro and an overall evil vibe coupled with what is an obvious spotlight on Tom Hulse’s offbeat bass we get the band lighting a church on fire with “Confusion of Mind”.

That leads us to the end of the left hand path with closer “Holy Ghost”, which to me gives us a glimpse at what the band can achieve when they commit to allowing the riff monster to breathe, developing longer passages with a tried and tested quiet/loud dynamic boiling over a stoner witch’s cauldron. So, occult rock does abuse a few elements such as the dreaded vocal enchantress, 70s Univoxs or Muffs and coven subject matter, but never forget that it’s not about believing in Satan, it’s about Satan believing in us.

Well worth bookmarking, check back when they release their debut LP next year.

“The God’s Below” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook