By:
Ernesto Aguilar
Album Type: Full-length
Date Released: 11/08/2017
Label: Kozmik Artifactz
Although you'll not find a swerve or anything wildly
disparate, Devil Electric is nonetheless entrancing. In particular, the group
is guaranteed to energize any fan of heavy blues reminiscent of Black Sabbath,
The Allman Brothers and similar bands.
“Devil Electric” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1.
Monologue (Where You Once Walked)
2.
Shadowman
3.
Lady Velvet
4.
Acidic Fire
5.
Monolith
6.
The Dove & The Serpent
7.
The Sacred Machine
8.
Lilith
9.
Hypnotica
The Review:
What
is edgy rock music today? Such classifications are quite debatable, given where
rock has meandered since the 1990s. Going from hard rock and beyond, sometimes
comparisons are at best awkward and at worst ill conceived. Hence the
contemporary metal fan might not classify Melbourne, Australia's Devil Electric as anywhere near the genre. Nevertheless its
sludge influences are on full display on the quartet's self-titled debut.
And
what a debut it is. Although you'll not find a swerve or anything wildly
disparate, Devil Electric is nonetheless entrancing. In
particular, the group is guaranteed to energize any fan of heavy blues
reminiscent of Black Sabbath, The Allman Brothers
and similar bands. In strains of "Lilith"
you can hear Sabbath's "Hand of Doom." In "Hypnotica"
you can get glimpses of Rainbow, among others.
However, Devil Electric is not simply a homage or a
tribute. Instead, it creates something very much up to date.
Devil Electric's premiere is exemplary
much on the strength of singer Pierina
O'Brien. Her presence and command of the material holds the listener's
attention throughout this nine-song journey. With "Shadowman" and a few other songs, O'Brien is able to stretch out her vocals and add remarkable
contours to the track. A precious few artists, such as Ute Plotkin of Aranya, come to mind as
having this singular sort of charisma. And although O'Brien's specific singing range is not markedly expansive, she
does quite a lot on these songs.
A
sound like this does not succeed without a muscular rhythm section. And Devil Electric is fortunate enough to have bassist Tom Hulse and drummer Mark Van De Beek on hand to provide the
sort of snap that guitarist Christos
Athanasias needs to do his meaty best. Needless to say, while O'Brien is talented, it is the
compliment of the rest of the group that helps trot out the best on this debut
release.
“Devil
Electric”
is available to preorder/buy on vinyl here and digitally here
