The Devils Blood - The Thousandfold Epicenter
MetalBlade Records
Occult Rock
11 songs ()
Release year: 2011
MetalBlade Records
Reviewed by Alex

With their second full-length The Thousandfold Epicenter Dutch occult rockers The Devil’s Blood have done to me the exact same thing they managed to accomplish with the debut The Time of No Time Evermore. One more time this mysterious collective managed to sneak out, totally from left field, and while with the first listen or two the reaction was ho-hum, at some point the music so totally clicked I need to start taking The Devil’s Blood withdrawal pills to move on.

Perhaps with the slightly cleaner sounding record The Devil’s Blood are true to their approach. Occult and dark worship in their book has nothing to do with the extremity in their music. Instead we have galloping chords, somewhat NWOBHM-sounding riffs with pronounced hooks, subdued rhythmic drumming, at times lengthy but not boring guitar jams and spacey detached atmosphere with psychedelia coming in droves. The first full track On the Wings of Gloria almost has JC Superstar quality about it given the exalted backing choirs. Within the Charnel House of Love invites the weary traveler to rest his/her head on the chest of Mother of Darkness, lullabying its prey away with rolling drums.

Still, just like on the debut, the first tracks serve as almost probing the listener, the catchy unforgiving hooks being firmly planted on the triad of Cruel Lover, She and the title track. For me it was an unquestionable album pinnacle worthy of the experience alone. Cruel Lover is sultry seductive catchy rock with a familiar sounding main riff, or it could be that this chord sequence is so easy on the senses you want to believe you have heard it before. It starts resonating pretty much immediately in your head and you will be humming it for days. She is a summit for female fronted rock, The Devil’s Blood frontlady only known as F (or so I think) moving in to become the dominatrix of your very soul. The meandering journey of the title track is somewhat unwinding the tensions, serving as the perfect preamble for the more direct rocker Fire Burning.

The closer marathon Feverdance spends almost 10 min at the uncertain sound level (intentionally?) coming as if from afar, exploding into the final defining sequence only to be over too soon.

Never to be advocating the use of drugs the painkillers I had to take the last couple of weeks are a perfect match for The Devil’s Blood. Earlier Jefferson Airplane and Coven comparisons fully valid, this band is an epitome of sacrificial dark worship, where your blood is not beaten or squeezed out of you, but where instead you are giving it away willingly, to the last drop, until you realize that this subterfuge has zero chance for your escape.

Killing Songs :
Cruel Lover, She, The Thousandfold Epicenter, Feverdance
Alex quoted 88 / 100
Other albums by The Devils Blood that we have reviewed:
The Devils Blood - The Time of No Time Evermore reviewed by Alex and quoted 88 / 100
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