Review: Devil Electric ‘Godless’
Devil Electric are a riff-laden four-piece from Melbourne, Australia that’s consisted of Christos Athanasias on guitar, Mark Van De Beek on drums, Pierina O’Brien on vocals, and Tom Hulse on bass since the band’s birth. They immediately caught my attention with their very first EP entitled The Gods Below released in 2016. It brought to my mind’s eye images of something I should not be seeing or hearing. In 2017 they signed to stoner haven label Kozmik Artifactz and released their Self-Titled debut.
My expectation was admittedly high here. The first LP graced my turntable for many a hazy night and became somewhat of a ritualistic experience I have with new people. One of the closest people in my life and I initially bonded over a shared love of the witchy sounds put forth. Did I set myself up for failure? Are we in for another instant classic? Can my brain handle more fuzz by these Aussies? Is it any wonder that they hit it out of the park again?
Beginning their sophomore album Godless involved me sacrificing my cats to Satan because really that seemed fair. The alluring, hypnotic guitars cradle you like an infant with I Am. Pierina’s vocals sound more confident than ever, stalking around your eardrums. Drumming that spins around your whole being, all coming together like a circus freak show that you would pour your soul into in exchange for attendance. Lyrics of pleas for help are sung, but without a stitch of pity is heard. The tone is set. The drum snare has begun an echo that carries until the record’s final seconds.
All My Friends Move Like The Night feels like a lost relic from the doomed flower generation coating everything reverberated. Beginning with what sounds like the fornication of drums with guitar, Mindset perfectly layers each part of the band working in a synergistic relationship. As the magic of the band works, my head feels like it’s dividing, as if they’re trying to perform mind transferal by force, feeding me Satanic experiences this Midwestern boy has no way of seeing otherwise.
a short and muscular listen that’s digs in deep and penetrates your mind…
Flimsy chords begin Your Guess Is As Good As Mine as a feeling of despair and dread washes over our traveling musicians. The pieces of the band fuse together stronger than before as Devil Electric is just showing off at this point. Resembling Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Take The Edge Off balances a light pop feel laced with images of traveling with a motorcycle caravan towards a demonic ceremony to sacrifice anything, or anyone, standing in the way.
In a fractured change of pace, I Will Be Forgotten begins as an acoustic affair until grunge-era guitars mesh with Van De Beek’s proggy drumming, awakening everything out of some druggy malaise and into a cleaning fire. Slowing things down The Cave completes this freak show journey. Hulse‘s dripping thick bass coils around everything, coated by the throbbing down-tuned glory with peppered drums and waves of guitar slamming against my head. This ditty feels like the lads and lass go full force into the blues with electrical surges. The circus has passed and left its mark.
Everything has improved since the Self-Titled album. Any semblance of shyness is dried up for a short and muscular listen that’s digs in deep and penetrates your mind. After the record’s completion, Satan gave me my cats back and all is well, so I don’t want a million letters about their wellbeing.
Label: Kozmik Artifactz
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Scribed by: Richard Murray
