The Devil are a cinematic metal band whose debut, as a whole, sounds unlike anything I've heard before. That alone, however, isn't enough for me to begin this review on a positive note. Their stab at combining spacey ambience with a doom metal sound is admirable, yet due to its lack of energy and passion in the playing it ultimately comes off as indulgent and unentertaining.

Audio clips of quotes from various speakers and news reporters at different events throughout the last century overdub almost every track on The Devil. Each song covers a different topic such as the existence of aliens, 9-11 conspiracy theories, and the Illuminati. These clips are the main focus and the music comes a very far away second. The music only exists to help set the mood to interpret each quote. The idea is pretty good but the execution doesn't do it justice. We casually move from chord to chord, riff (and I use that word reluctantly) to riff. Sometimes we stop for an elongated atmospheric pause and then we... eh... kick back into it.

For a record that bases its strengths on the pensive profundity of its quotes, the morals being communicated are fairly typical and the topics have been done to death by every band in existence, metal or not. The scope of research done to find all these clips is impressive, but you do get the odd "I have a dream" and "One small step for man" here and there.

The Devil is extremely slow, repetitive and unforgivingly bleak. It challenged me greatly, forced me to seek something more to be discovered past the first, second, third listens. These guys have tried something unique and I'll give them that, but it's totally humorless stuff which makes things especially awkward when you find out they play in masked monk outfits. Maybe that's the irony, though. Maybe they are the quintessential 'hipster' band of ages. Could their real message be that someone, somewhere is listening to clips of news reports over basic, basic, basic guitar riffs, dreary string-synth and being serious about it?

For all the pretentiousness that I can't get past, there is something that seems to work here. Something about it just works. Something about it meshes together in a way that I'm not used to, and some songs really do pull it off and hit you where it hurts. The ominous opening Divinorum starts things off on the right foot. The combined impact of Akashic Enlightenment and the song that follows it, Extinction Level Event, is worth listening to. There's an awareness and sensitivity to some of the softer sections that I wish could be heard more throughout. Unfortunately parts like these are brief flashes in the pan. The Devil get extra marks for being experimental and verging somewhat on the edge of originality - not to the extent that I'd recommend them, but there are enough pleasantries on this album for me to be curious about how they can improve and become more convincing in the future.