Devil Electric : "s/t"

Not dark enough to be a Gothtober entry, this Austrailian band busts out some pretty hefty rock that falls some where between doom and stoner rock. So it's either dark stoner or doom. I think this was being called occult rock or vest metal a few years ago. There is some Sabbath worship, but their singer has a personality of her own and is not just trying to totally fall in line with all the Grace Slicksters that came after Christian Mistress. "Shadowman" is not as smartly written as the opener.Their producer nailed the guitar tone and the vocals are layer well also. "Lady Velvet" has a good groove. Their singer is reasonably hot so that might factor in to how her persona might be giving her pipes the illusion they are larger than life. She has more personality to her voice than she dazzles with vocal pyrotechnics. To her credit she certainly serves the songs.

One thing this band has going for them is they don't try to zone you out into a long tedious drone. Fairly upbeat despite their doom flavorings most of the songs seem to be under the six minute mark. They don't jam either, it's right to the point and driving that point powerfully home. They get it dialed back inn for "Dove and the Serpent". They share the load when it comes to song writing with riffs and vocals carrying equal weight.  Until "the Sacred Machine" the bass keeps a low profile, with the guitars sonically dominating the mix until the vocals step into the spot light. They keep kneeling at the altar of Sabbath on this one as well. The drummer has certainly a respect for Zeppelin as well.

The album ends on a darker note with "Hypnotica". The tempo is slowed in more of a lumber that you might expect from this brand of more traditional doom. Her vocals back off  little and she proves that she can do more than just belt.The guitarist also proves he can solo very tastefully. I'll round this one up to a 9 as over all this is a solid release , it sounds great. While it is not the most original thing under the sun that have crafted their own sound that stands on it's own two legs.