First review of the New Year and it’s a pretty damn new band too. Hailing from Norway, Devil’s website proudly declares their first concert was in July 2010. With all the competition for label support in that small nation, it is a credit to the band that they are able to release this demo as a stopgap pending 2011’s forthcoming album, as well as announcing a few shows and festivals.
So, what sound have Devil gone for; is it the blacker then black deadly screams that so often crawl from the bowels of hell via Norway? With a name like Devil, and a Latin title that translates as “I am the master of the world” (I knew that Latin O-level in 1985 would come in useful one day), combined with the goat head logo, that is the impression the cover gives. Even the intro, with the sounds of a horse riding through a storm to meet the devil like the title sequence to a Hammer Horror adds to that promise. Instead, Devil have produced a pretty classy piece of NWOBHM tinged doom, all around a satanic theme, as if Dennis Wheatley’s novels were being performed by Cirith Ungol. ‘At The Blacksmiths’ sets the pace for all five tracks proper of the CD, mid paced doom, heavy on guitar distort, with a chugging drum driving the track along at a good nodding pace. As is pretty much obligatory for any doom act, some Sabbathesque riffing appears, particularly in ‘Time To Repent’, the longest, and for me stand out track, the various elements of the band gelling, the fuzzy guitar break putting a nice stamp of quality on the song.
Sound wise ‘Magister Mundi Xum’ doesn’t try to hide its demo status, the lo-fi production giving the band a definite late seventies, early eighties sound, reminiscent of the early rough works of Saint Vitus. Not so crushingly heavy or impenetrable as many acts, Devil have produced a nice foretaste of their future work, as well as a pretty good release of itself. If more releases of 2011 are of this quality, it will be a classic year for metal.
http://www.devilband.com
http://www.myspace.com/devilband
