Devilment – II – The Mephisto Waltz

[nyrating]

Yes, yes, my dear children of the night, this review is well nigh three months late, and for that I’m truly sorry. It is unfair, undeserved and simply a matter of prioritisation on this poor scribe’s behalf.

Undeserved because this is a fine album by Cradle Of Filth’s screaming midget, Dani Filth, guitarist Colin Parks, drummer Matt Alston, bassist Nick Johnson and keyboarder Lauren Francis with whom Filth also shares the vocal duties.

Where Dani Filth’s main band have merely occasionally flirted with this stuff, Devilment unashamedly relish in ultra-catchy pop refrains and elements of both soft goth metal and modern metal. And yet, there is still so much room for the guitar sound and heaviness that is not a far cry from COF, although possibly a tad darker. The comparison is of course unavoidable with Dani’s voice being so characteristic as it is, and admittedly, you sometimes feel that this could indeed be a new Cradle album (Shine On Sophie Moone being just one example). That’s not a bad thing, I might add.

What makes a huge difference for me is the songs where Lauren contributes with her vocal. What she does works really, really well along with Filth’s spitting and snarling utterings and his word smithing, which, in my view, is only equalled in metal by Martin Walkyier (formerly of Sabbat and Skyclad).

This is one for the Cradle fans out there who enjoy a poppy refrain and sounds of goth. I, for one, am one of those. I think it’s a fab album. More of that, please.

 

Tracklist:
1. Judas Stein
2. Hitchcock Blonde
3. Under The Thunder
4. Full Dark, No Stars
5. Shine On Sophie Moone
6. Life Is What You Keep From The Reaper
7. Dea Della Morte
8. Entangled In Our Pride
9. Hell At My Back

Playing time: 49 minutes

Release date: 18th of November, 2016

Label: Nuclear Blast

Website: Devilment @facebook

About Thomas Nielsen 1051 Articles
When my old buddy Kenn Jensen asked me if I wanted to contribute to the new site he had created, then called powermetal.dk, I didn't hesitate. My love for metal music was and is great. I wrote my first review during the summer of 2004 (Moonspell's 'Antidote' album). In 2015, I took over the editor-in-chief role.

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