From London comes the instrumental gothic/doom act The Devil, whose cloaked & masked appearance is like a cross between The Ghost and Crimson Glory. The music however on their self-titled debut for Candlelight is a totally different beast, as slow, plodding guitar riffs and spooky keyboards provide the crushing backdrop to various news snippet narrations of many noteworthy events of the last 50 years. As such, the CD comes across like a soundtrack, and very few of these pieces feel like actual songs. "World of Sorrow" contains news segments and recordings during the 9/11 attacks, and there are some powerful riffs, but it's all very disjointed and chaotic and will be for some a very painful rememberance of a horrific day. "Devil & Mankind" lumbers along in My Dying Bride-like fashion, but the news soundbites get in the way. That's basically the theme here, as each piece reflects a different chapter or event in world history, but instead of the band creating lyrics to go along with these themes, they've used actual news recordings and built music around them. An interesting idea, but it makes for a frustrating listen, and not something I'll go back to much if at all. Perhaps next time they can flesh out their songs a bit more, and use the clips more as an embellishment rather than as the main element.
Track Listing
1. Divinorum
2. Universe
3. Astral Dreamscape
4. World of Sorrow
5. Devil & Mankind
6. The Silent City
7. Akashic Enlightenment
8. Extinction Level Event
9. Intervention
10. Illuminati
11. Transcendence
12. Alternative Dimensions
13. Ascension
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