One of my absolute favourite bands of all time, let alone just British, is Devil Sold His Soul. I reviewed their latest offering, Blessed & Cursed, a couple of months back. I have no idea if any of you gave a shit, but here they are again. This one’s an older tune from their first album A Fragile Hope. It’s something of a ‘radio edit’, for all intents and purposes, but it’s still a killer track.
This lucky bastard gets to see them on Friday. It’s going to be a fucking killer show; they’re supporting Architects, along with U.S. metalcore giants Norma Jean. No matter your opinion of either, it’s going to be beastmode.
Britain is small, isolated, and confuses the hell out of a lot of people – but trust me, it’s not all toffs, tea and queuing politely. We have produced, and still are producing some kick-arse bands
This is your chance to learn a little something about the British metal scene, and for me to spout off a bunch of nonsensical idioms. It’s gonna be reet good! And so ladies and gentledudes, with that in mind, Heavy Blog Is Heavy is proud to present:
Let’s just dive right in shall we?
Rinoa, featuring ex-members of Crydebris and Symmetry, have had both of their solo efforts produced by the mighty Johnny Renshaw of Devil Sold His Soul, as well as releasing a split EP in 2009 with the now defunct Bossk, from which the above track, Fires In The Distant North, is taken.
They’re from Essex, where ‘levva’ is a material made from cow skins, a ‘corta panda’ is a hamburger, and those with a lot of money are considered ‘welfie’ – but we won’t hold such linguistic transgressions against them
01. Tides
02. Drowning/Sinking
03. Callous Heart
04. An Ocean of Lights
05. Frozen
06. The Disappointment
07. Crane Lake
08. A Foreboding Sky
09. The Weight of Faith
10. Truth Has Come
[Century Media | 07/12/10]
I’ve been looking forward to this record for a long time. Devil Sold His Soul are a band who, it seems, can do no wrong. Frequent touring, satisfying both UK and European audiences, shows a band willing to work hard for their art. Their 2005 EP Darkness Prevails brims with a selection of dark and brooding tunes; many of which are firm fan-favourites. 2007′s A Fragile Hope battered me across the face like a particularly feisty granny; righteous handbag of death a-flailing. In me they’ve created a fervent supporter who peddles them to anyone who’ll listen. Presently, that means you lucky suckers.
So three years after their debut full-length, with only a split EP (with the excellent Tortuga) to span the void, Blessed & Cursed certainly has a lot to live up to. I could write an essay extolling the virtues of their first album, as could any of this band’s fiercely loyal followers – and with the sophomore album being a well-documented difficult task, matching these high hopes was always going to be daunting.
I was actually lucky enough to attend the launch show – for the princely sum of two English pounds – a couple of weeks back, so I’ve had the opportunity to sample Blessed & Cursed both on CD and in a live setting already.
The band have certainly cranked up the atmosphere this time around. Whereas A Fragile Hope exuded a dramatic, impassioned sense of foreboding, Blessed & Cursed exhilirates from the get-go, radiating a colossal measure of maturity.
One for the British readers. You fancy ‘Mericans and your nationwide metal tours. Well boo and hiss to you, good sirs!
In the wake of the disappointment following England’s disappointing World Cup performance, we have a bit of good news for you. Not that I generally follow football (yes, that’s football, played with the feet…), but it meant no more half-days spent legitimately bunking off work to watch it with the boss. Alas.
To cheer us up (or maybe just because they were doing it anyway), current British metal darlings Architects have announced the support for their autumn headline tour around the UK – and it’s gonna be a good one.
Not only have they drafted in the magnificent Devil Sold His Soul (who I keep harping on about I know, but they really are good), but in what must have been a bit of a coup, they’ve also got Norma Jean to accompany them, which should be good for a mosh or two. I’ll be bringing my knife to the gunfight.
I promised a while ago that I’d be posting a fair bit of content on British ambient metal band Devil Sold His Soul. I kinda reneged on that one until now, but the interview ball is rolling, and their new album Blessed & Cursed is due for a July 12th release (and I even have a ticket to the launch party! That, followed by Converge the next day and Circa Survive the day after. Happy little Brit right here). They went down a storm at last weekend’s Download Festival, and have a few more dates coming up in this country too.
In the meantime, here’s a teaser they posted a few weeks ago. It contains the song “Callous Heart“, and I think it sounds, well, just dandy. Pretty excite.
You may not yet have heard of Devil Sold His Soul, one of the UK’s best underground metal bands, but you’re sure as hell going to hear a lot about them in the coming weeks. We have an interview in the pipeline, so keep checking back.
Their music is a progressive blend of ambient metal and screamo; really beautiful stuff, and I urge you to go and check them out right bleedin’ now.
Up until now they’ve released an EP (Darkness Prevails), an album (A Fragile Hope) and a split 7″ vinyl with Tortuga that absolutely killed.
Anyway, as the title suggests, the band have today released news about their upcoming second album. Details have been sparse, and a lot of fans have been begging for any kind of word as to what to expect.
From the band:
We’re all extremely proud of this album, it’s the best album we could possibly write at this moment in time. As far as we’re concerned it’s a massive leap from the last album, it’s a much better record, more variety, more engaging, more aggressive, more emotive, more everything! We’ve gone all out in expanding what we do, and more specifically doing it better. So we can’t wait for everyone to hear it, and hope that you all agree!
The record will be titled Blessed & Cursed, with a scheduled UK release date of July 12th, through Century Media Records. Tracklisting and album art are as follows:
Tides
Drowning/Sinking
Callous Heart
An Ocean of Lights
Frozen
The Disappointment
Crane Lake
A Foreboding Sky
The Weight of Faith
Truth Has Come
Track 7, Crane Lake, was on the Tortuga split, and if it’s anything to go by, this album is going to be all levels of awesome. Take a listen.
Devil Sold His Soul
