Artist: The Devil’s Blood
Country: The Netherlands
Label: Ván Records
Formats: 7″ EP
Year: 2008
Out of the blue, really out of the blue there was this band from Eindhoven, Holland. Not quite announced by anything or anyone, they were there just at once. No warnings, no signs. The funniest thing is that I was tipped by a Chilean girl instead of discovering this band myself. But, however, it makes quite an addition to the rich musical culture of The Netherlands, not quite metal, but still very obscure and dark. This “The Graveyard Shuffle” is their first release, a great looking 7” on a German label.
Musically this is a good mixture of all things obscure, dark, sinister and occult. Think of Coven, Black Widow, and Pagan Altar done in a very honest and authentic way. Though a lot of reviewers/people will say ‘vintage’, this is quite an understatement and not quite the truth as this sounds much more sincere and honest than anything Witchcraft, for instance, has done in their entire career – now even more, when they moved so far away from their initial roots with their hideous sounding last record. Though Witchcraft might have paved the way for bands like The Devil’s Blood many of those are actually not much more than talking through the hat, the last hype, Blood Ceremony for instance, is nothing but a shitty copy of those aforementioned bands. The Devil’s Blood, in their turn, adds something special to the sound of old and basically gives the whole genre a new twist. But the most important thing is that they know how to make it sound really obscure and occult without getting bogged down in hippie-crap.
Definitely a tip for anyone into the darker sides of music, no matter the preferred style. Good music is good music and will always find its way to those who are looking for it. This single will be rather hard to find within no-time, so it might be useful not to wait too long anymore. The 7” EP itself is done in nice way, all in red, including the vinyl itself, a great addition to your vinyl collection too…
