Devil Electric - Devil Electric (2017)

DEVIL ELECTRIC is a Heavy/Doom/Metal band formed in Melbourne, Australia, formed in 2015. The band released an EP in 2016 called “The Gods Below,” and now present their debut full length titled “Devil Electric,” which contains nine tracks. “Monologue (Where You Once Walked)” leads off the album. A fuzzy, doomy guitar riff in minor chords provides the murky and foreboding entrance. Pierina’s vocals are in the alto range for the most part, parting the smoky haze of a bar or club with a downtrodden approach. As bass and guitars carry the same riff at times, it is a weighted affair. “Lady Velvet” has an easy listening sound; an anthem perhaps where the song is fueled by one main riff. Fire up a blunt and just sink down into the chair and take it in.

“Acidic Fire” is another plate of grey, sorrowful music, in a slow moving track that slowly seeps into your soul, like salt in a wound. It has the sounds of an early BLACK SABBATH, but perhaps without that signature tremor the band had in the early 1970’s. Tom’s bass guitar work is noteworthy, as it often is in this genre. I can literally see Geezer Butler punching those strings with his nimble fingers. Speaking of bass guitar, the opening thudding riffs in “Monolith” are enough to bore holes in the ground with endless pits. “The Dove & The Serpent” croons with “drag me down to the hell hole where I come from.” It’s a lumbering song with a bit of a sexy swing, and some biting riffs.

“The Sacred Machine” is another shorter piece with lead-in bass guitar, followed by a riff like that is echoed in the guitar. It climbs up and down a scale for a spell before settling into a nasty and dirty sound. Pierina unleashes some rage here and there, like a person scorned coming back for vengeance. “Lilith” is an odd but pleasing interlude of sorts, bringing some ambiance to the heaviness of the other tracks. It is carried out mostly on bass guitar with some tom strikes here and there. “Hypnotica” closes the album. The super-crunchy opening riff is something you could chew on for hours and not make any progress towards digestion. The ambient passages in the verses are gut-wrenching laments, and there are bursts of emotion in the guitar work and vocals that could draw the fluid from your body, rendering you a living corpse.

It’s a solid debut full-length for the band in the area of doomy, despondent Hard Rock/Metal that makes good use of dejection and anguish throughout the nine tracks. Sometimes I wish the vocals had a little more presence, but when they are missing, it does allow the shift to the guitar and bass work to really dig deep into that droning sorrow that marks the genre as well as it does. Van De Beek’s drumming also sometimes get lost in the mix and a little more fire and brimstone from the instrument might help bump this into something special. As it stands, a good album in the genre.