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Chicago’s
Bible of the Devil is almost an awesome band. Almost. I
may have said the same thing when I heard 2006’s The
Diabolic Procession; an album that promised and at
the same time delivered but that in the end left you a
bit puzzled. A couple of months ago I was jogging when
the song “Millenianism” from said album came on my Ipod.
Awesome riff. The kind of guitars that make you jog a
little faster. A lot like a jolt of energy. ‘This is
awesome’ I thought, but three minutes later before
the track had come to an end I moved onto the next tune.
The riff had been played to its exhaustion, the
escalating song structure and the riff-tastic guitars
had flattened and what once was thrilling and exciting
had turned into a mild diversion.
Bible of the
Devil’s penchant for stretching their songs usually over the
five minute mark may be a sign that this band likes to give the
audience what they want and more, but it also means that their
melodies and choruses are played until they become a bit stale.
Don’t get me wrong, Freedom Metal is an excellent album
and that’s precisely why I want to highlight the negative.
Though negative may be too strong a word.
The songs are
outstanding, shaped by stellar guitar playing Bible of the Devil
makes the kind of metal that manages to be epic, vivid and
actual without having to resort to lyrics about dragons, sword
fighting and big tities. Ok, there may be a little of the
latter here, but this is metal. Vocalist Mark Hoffman has also
improved, now delivering a more assured and powerful
performance, and even though his shared vocal harmonies with
guitarist Nate Perry could have been polished a little, their
classic and pure unadultered zero gimmicks metal is performed
with big big fucking balls. But man, as preposterous as this may
sound, some of these songs could use a little trimming and
that’s why I give it a 3.5 instead of a 4.
And one more
thing, the song “’Ol’ Girl” is the best tune Phil Lynott never
wrote. From the vocals to the gorgeous double guitar tandem,
it’s got Thin Lizzy written all over it. And Thin Lizzy ranks
way up high in my book and in my Ipod.
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