DEVILSKIN
“BE LIKE THE RIVER”
Album Review By Iron Mathew

8.5/10

Devilskin are a rock/metal band from New Zealand formed in 2010, releasing their debut album in 2015 and the follow up in 2016.

No widdly guitar or keyboard intro, no atmosphere or crescendo building intro … the new album from Devilskin is straight in there with ‘In Black’, a pulsating progressive laden song that is both catchy and infectious. The powerful vocals and thudding rhythms, a staple of the Devilskin signature sound, is so prominent that when ‘Mountains’ kicks in and swaggers on, you know you’re listening to a Devilskin album. Laden with addictiveness, ‘Mountains’ will hook you in and you’ll find yourself nodding your head in appreciation and also have you salivating in anticipation of what’s to come. Buzzing guitars breath life into ‘Pray’, a much more melodic hard rock song than the opening double salvo. If you’re not smiling at the infectious nature of this music, then you’re probably dead, or deaf, whichever fits…

Fuelled by acoustics, the mellow beginning to ‘Voices’ will have you reaching for your lighters, and just as you raise them high, ‘Voices’ becomes a hard rocking power ballad. Bustling and busy, ‘Believe In Me’ is a solid slab of hard rock, with a sharp edge and an infectious guitar chug. Devilskin have the knack of delivering hard rocking heavy metal with a progressive edge and a catchy nature. Throw in a few death metal style growls and screeches, stir in the occasional soaring, almost symphonic vocals and in Jennie Skulander you have a superbly versatile singer.

With one of the strongest ever NWOBHM influences, ‘FYI’ buzzes into life like something legendary UK icons Iron Maiden would produce…minus the female vocal lead of course. As ‘FYI’ continues, it does slant more towards the progressive, but retains that buzzing guitar sound so synonymous with the NWOBHM evolution. Heavying things up is ‘Bury Me’, a thundering mid tempo romp, with a quite sparkling, soaring vocal delivery. Devilskin are a hard working band and have toured extensively in support of their debut album from two years ago, and in 2017, the band will appear at the prestigious Download festival at Donington Park in the UK.

‘House 13’ buzzes into life and chugs along relentlessly. Combining hard rock with progressive rock, ‘House 13’ is a pulsating and infectious song. I realise I have mentioned “progressive” more than once, but this album has moved towards that genre…a sign of a band not afraid to experiment with their sound and song writing. The bands heavy metal beginnings are not forgotten though, as ‘Grave’ bristles with addictiveness and an infectious melodic metal vibe. ‘Animal’ drops all the heaviness, all the bustle and all the guitar buzz, as it wanders on its way through ballad territory with a very soulful vocal performance. Bringing the album to a close is the anthemic and majestic ‘Limbs’…where rock meets metal meets progressive. Throughout the album, the singer has demonstrated her wide ranging vocal style with power metal style vocals, symphonic and the odd death metal growl thrown in, leaving the best display of death metal until this final song.

Overall, an album full of hard rock, progressive and heavy metal, Devilskin are proving themselves a versatile and adaptable band, here for the long run.

TRACKLIST

In Black
Mountains
Pray
Voices
Believe In Me
F.Y.I.
Bury Me
House 13
Grave
Animal
Limbs

http://devilskin.co.nz/
https://www.facebook.com/DevilskinNZ

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