Desert rock riffs and otherworldly lyrics
Released 12 August 2016 on Ripple Music and reviewed by Atom Heart Mutha (from the dark side of the mooooon)
Devil To Pay are an interesting prospect, they’ve been around for some 13 years and are the brainchild of Frontman Steve Janiak. Janiak himself a fascinating guy having spent some time in a deep drug induced coma; his lyrics are described as being “from the other side” following the coma and come from strange hallucinations and flashbacks, there’s a deep well of weird shit to draw from, and Devil to Pay definitely get stuck in.
‘On And On (In Your Mind)’ kicks things off with a nice fuzzy riff and some rather fantastic drumming, there’s some great guitar harmonies too, it’s a stomping monster that leads nicely into ‘Don’t Give the World Away’, more great stoner riffs and a vocal and backing not unlike earlier Alice in Chains in places. The next track up is ‘Kobold in the Breadbasket’ and it’s here that you hear more of that AIC influence that lies throughout a lot of the lp, not just in terms of vocal sounds but in tone and tempo too, it works well and doesn’t detract from the sound or identity the band here have themselves.
Elsewhere there’s ‘Recommended Daily Dosage’ a speedy riffed rock banger complete with Cowbell and venomous raspy vocals and the stomp doom of ‘Knuckledragger’ all fitting in well with pace of the record and keeping your attention grabbed throughout. ‘Your Inner Lemmy’ is a fantastic tribute the late man himself and his band with more than a passing nod to the Motörhead Sound. The album closes with the magnificent ‘The Demons Come Home to Roost’, an epic 8-minute-long marathon of heavy riffs and drumming that mixes Heavy Rock and Stoner style with head bounding success.
The LP runs at a decent 44 minutes and doesn’t let up from start to end, the lyrics are pretty out there in places and don’t detract from the sounds, it’s a great listen. Label Ripple Music continue to have a decent summer, if you haven’t heard the debut album by The Judge, that needs rectifying, label mates Zed release their new Lp imminently too and A Bend through Space and Time sits nicely between those two records. The Riffs are heavy and the grooves are tight and theres something infectious about this album that pays dividends you more you hear it; fans of heavy stoner and desert rock will find plenty to enjoy here, this is the good shit! (Fans of six armed aliens and nipples will find the album art interesting too!)
Get on it.
8 out of 10
Track list:
- On And On (In Your Mind)
- Don’t Give Away The World
- Kobold In The Breadbasket
- Laughingstock
- The Meaning Of Life
- Recommended Daily Dosage
- Knuckledragger
- Kerfuffle
- Your Inner Lemmy
- The Demons Come Home To Roost
Zen Doom says he likes this.
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