#DevilsTail 🇸🇪 Desolation
Band: Devils Tail
Title: Desolation
Label: Non Serviam Records
Release date: 01 July 2022
Country: Sweden
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording
It’s great (and kind of soothing) to see that there’s no shortage in new Metal bands. As always, no matter the decade, the year, the times… there are always new bands emerging from the deepest underground, in order to bring dark delight to the greedy and eager Metal addicts. Now it’s Devils Tail turn; this is a Swedish Black Metal band that was formed in 2020 and now their debut full-length, “Desolation”, has been just released via Non Serviam Records. Well, let’s see what’s this about…
The general impression I get after listening to this album from start to finish is that… it’s really dark. More concretely, I find that this music creates a somber, dusky and desolated atmosphere that engulfs you right from the start like a black hole, and you can’t get out of it. The guitar tone is grim, riffs are sometimes repeated endlessly in order to create hypnotic passages, mesmerizing landscapes of nothingness. And that’s what I love the most when it comes to Black Metal: the ability to bring you intense feelings out of nowhere, to let you drained from all emotion, feeling the more complete emptiness and despair.
And Devils Tail really accomplishes that. This two-men band knows about these dark fields and they play on them. Besides the mesmerizing guitars and bass, vocals are devilish enough to make you shiver; the voice is harsh and evil, and it sounds as if it was emerging from the depths of Hell through wastelands. Drums are marking the correct pace all the time, from blast beats to mid-paced tempos to increase that dark and thick atmosphere.
“Eternal Life” comes first (after one minute of noisy intro) and I really enjoy the mid-paced drums and the repetitive guitar riff, great way to start creating that somber landscape! Thanks to the dark, raspy and evil vocals too, of course. “Creeping Terror” speeds up the pace, so it does the heaviness (damn, that tremolo riff is piercing my brain!). I really like how cymbals are smashed shamelessly in this track, their sound stands out and fits perfectly here. Their use all along the album is really accurate, in my opinion. “Master of Salvation” is another great track, the guitar tone is totally grim and I love it. And even if sometimes drums are a bit too predominant in the mix, I think it’s for a good purpose and the result is awesome.
The album was mixed and mastered by Heljarmadr and, according to Devils Tail statement in Bandcamp, “it is because of him that “Desolation” has got its dark and barren atmosphere”. Well, let me tell you: if you want to listen to an album with a gloomy enveloping atmosphere, go for this one and you won’t be disappointed. For me it’s a 8/10 Sílvia
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8/10 To Greatness and Glory!
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