(I’d personally call it: the Faith No More that ACTUALLY works!)
The Great and Secret Show – 96%
CaptainGordon_94, October 20th, 2015
As a long time Cradle of Filth fan when I heard that Dani was part of a project that wasn’t CoF I was quick to find it online and very soon after buy it. Devilment is certainly different to CoF and should be listened to with an open mind, which doesn’t go to say that there aren’t similarities. It falls into a number of genres within metal, mainly gothic and groove metal but with a fair bit of experimentation.
I was immediately drawn in by the bands’ energy, groovy songs and creepy atmospheres. This is something that makes Devilment more relaxed as compared to CoF and this makes the album as a whole seem more complete and easy to listen to. I mean the catchiness of the riffs throughout Even Your Blood Group Rejects Me is just energizing. And that is probably one of the best aspects of this album, the exceptional and experimental guitarwork provided by Colin Parks and Danny Finch. The guitars are prominent and are varied from song to song like the slow interesting solos from Living With the Fungus to the fast chuggy riffs from The Stake in my Heart.
Dani has very unique vocals which is one of the things that put Cradle of Filth on the map, and this vocal style has obviously been brought to Devilment but I believe he has expanded his range even more which I thought was impossible. This impressive range can be heard on songs such as Girl From Mystery Island and the stand-out track Sanity Hits a (Perfect) Zero where he whispers, growls deeply, screams in a crazy high pitch, sings softly and laughs like a mental patient. Not only is it his vocals that are transferred from CoF but also Dani’s excellent command of the English language to make the song lyrics so good it’s like poetry. Laudanum Skull is a great example along with the darkly poetic song about love, Living With the Fungus.
Rolling drums to blast beats to heavy use of double bass, drummer Aaron Boast gives it his all from start to finish. Although changing it up from song to song he keeps it so it doesn’t sound unstructured or unbalanced and the right balance can be heard from the opening beast Summer Arteries and the Midnight Oil cover track Beds Are Burning that features guest vocals from Bam Margera.
The brilliant use of other instruments such as the keyboard and piano done by Lauren Francis and the epic and creepy orchestral arrangement are what give the album that experimental feel I mentioned. The most experimental tracks have to be the awesomely strange Sanity Hits a (Perfect) Zero and the creepiest song of the album Staring at the Werewolf Corps.
Maybe lacking stand-out bass parts, but this certainly does not spoil the album as there are countless other things that make it great. Like the production quality and the composition of every song. To conclude here, Devilment’s The Great and Secret Show is a sterling release that doesn’t fail to impress. If you like it weird, epic and gothic this is definitely the album for you.
rafazardly 