- Apr 5, 2003
- 2,668
- 2
- 38
Devil Sold His Soul - Like Its Your Last
Gomek.com - 007 - 2004
By Brandon Strader
Another EP from the sandy hills of Gomekkistan, this time from a band called Devil Sold His Soul. They start out the first song, and I guess you could call it the main song, with some dissonances that lead into a powerchord-fueled verse. I say possibly the main song because it's the only song that doesn't have some kind of classification in parenthesis after the songtitle. On this little EP, we've got "Darkness Prevails" starting it up, "Like Its Your Last (Video Edit)" next, then "Clouds (Demo)" and finishing up with "Some Friend (Live)", so needless to say it's a pretty broadened EP with a version of a song from every medium.
Some things can be noticed immediately from the first minute of "Darkness Prevails". First off, they have a real percussionist and he can hold a beat pretty well. The kit doesn't seem to sound overly triggered, which is good. I think I actually heard a moment when a kickdrum hit was missing from the beginning! Normally people would moan about such a thing, but it's better than having overly triggered kits that sound like MIDI or something. Too many producers are using triggers too much, and I won't name any names but you know who you are! It can also be heard that the vocals (both screamed and clean) are mixed a tiny bit too quiet, and the screams are not very thick and have a throaty distortion that probably hurts quite a bit.
Devil Sold His Soul seem to love playing the same chord over and over, and although the song structure is pretty good, it is a bit too boring! These guys don't quite have the popularity of certain goth rock bands to be able to release bland material and still sell a ton of records. What they lack in diversity they make up with intensity, and an obvious effort, especially from the vocalist. Not only does he release these grinding throat screams, but he also performs the punky clean vocals, and actually stays on key very well. Something I found interesting is that they assigned a speaker to each guitarist, so you will be hearing one guy in the left speaker, and another in the right speaker.
The live version of "Some Friend" is recorded loud as hell, probably with the recording device not too far away from stage. You can hear a little girl yelling "Yeah, f**k yeah!" shortly after the song breaks into the heaviness, which is pretty funny. When the guitars are blaring in this recording, it's hard to make out too much in the song, but there is a point where the guitars cease and it's just percussion, bass, and screams and that moment sounds great. It really sounds like it was a very fun, probably extremely loud show, so try to catch these guys live if you can.
Like Its Your Last is a good glimpse into doomy material by an up-and-coming band. It would have been great to hear more material by these guys, so hopefully the future holds good fortunes for them. The song "Clouds", which is a demo version, has one of the most touching moments on this EP with it's atmospheric piano performance! Despite all the harsh critique, Devil Sold His Soul is a good listen for fans of doomy or goth-rock type stuff, and is a band we should probably keep an eye on.
7/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Devil Sold His Soul Website
Official Gomek Website
Gomek.com - 007 - 2004
By Brandon Strader
Another EP from the sandy hills of Gomekkistan, this time from a band called Devil Sold His Soul. They start out the first song, and I guess you could call it the main song, with some dissonances that lead into a powerchord-fueled verse. I say possibly the main song because it's the only song that doesn't have some kind of classification in parenthesis after the songtitle. On this little EP, we've got "Darkness Prevails" starting it up, "Like Its Your Last (Video Edit)" next, then "Clouds (Demo)" and finishing up with "Some Friend (Live)", so needless to say it's a pretty broadened EP with a version of a song from every medium.
Some things can be noticed immediately from the first minute of "Darkness Prevails". First off, they have a real percussionist and he can hold a beat pretty well. The kit doesn't seem to sound overly triggered, which is good. I think I actually heard a moment when a kickdrum hit was missing from the beginning! Normally people would moan about such a thing, but it's better than having overly triggered kits that sound like MIDI or something. Too many producers are using triggers too much, and I won't name any names but you know who you are! It can also be heard that the vocals (both screamed and clean) are mixed a tiny bit too quiet, and the screams are not very thick and have a throaty distortion that probably hurts quite a bit.
Devil Sold His Soul seem to love playing the same chord over and over, and although the song structure is pretty good, it is a bit too boring! These guys don't quite have the popularity of certain goth rock bands to be able to release bland material and still sell a ton of records. What they lack in diversity they make up with intensity, and an obvious effort, especially from the vocalist. Not only does he release these grinding throat screams, but he also performs the punky clean vocals, and actually stays on key very well. Something I found interesting is that they assigned a speaker to each guitarist, so you will be hearing one guy in the left speaker, and another in the right speaker.
The live version of "Some Friend" is recorded loud as hell, probably with the recording device not too far away from stage. You can hear a little girl yelling "Yeah, f**k yeah!" shortly after the song breaks into the heaviness, which is pretty funny. When the guitars are blaring in this recording, it's hard to make out too much in the song, but there is a point where the guitars cease and it's just percussion, bass, and screams and that moment sounds great. It really sounds like it was a very fun, probably extremely loud show, so try to catch these guys live if you can.
Like Its Your Last is a good glimpse into doomy material by an up-and-coming band. It would have been great to hear more material by these guys, so hopefully the future holds good fortunes for them. The song "Clouds", which is a demo version, has one of the most touching moments on this EP with it's atmospheric piano performance! Despite all the harsh critique, Devil Sold His Soul is a good listen for fans of doomy or goth-rock type stuff, and is a band we should probably keep an eye on.
7/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Devil Sold His Soul Website
Official Gomek Website
