Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 01:03 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Well it is rather easy for me to imagine Bible of the Devil ‘s members naming the songs of their fifth full length album entitled Freedom Metal with working titles in the studio such as Thin Lizzy song, Blue Oyster Cult song or Black Sabbath song. On the other hand some would say that this would be rather confusing to them as all 8 songs have this Thin Lizzy-like melody and vibe so easily all these could create a mess in the recording sessions for the quartet from Windy city.
Anyway this raw gem was released a dozen years ago and it stills sound fresh, ugly and dirty. The band back then had a decade of touring and releasing albums (they were established in 1999) in their back so they had the balance of experience and still feeling hungry. Probably some of you remember that this album was almost their breakthrough. Unfortunately music Press had their name under Stoner label which is half-truth; Stoner is (way much) closer to Heavy Metal than your average Black Metal band from Poland, yet Bible of the Devil sounds definitely closer to Thin Lizzy or to a NWOBHM band of the first wave than Kyuss. Despite what the Press wrote about them we are living in the 21st century where technology gives us the opportunity to hear anything we want before buying it so these kinds of excuses sounds almost ridiculous for any band of our time that the masses couldn’t appreciate its work.
What you got in “Freedom Metal” is nothing more or less than eight excellent 70’s based Hard Rock/Heavy Metal structured songs with twin guitars vomiting razor sharp riffs that melt your drunken heart and dazed mind. And of course a couple of tons of heavy riffs that flirting with bluesy focused ones and full of energy solos that worship Thin Lizzy. These guitars will stick to your mind as its melodies are compelling; almost addictive. The pounding drums keep the rhythm horny, while the bass lines are thick and rock solid. The biker metal attitude Bible of the Devil have smells like burned rubber in the road, while there’s some rough vocals from Mark Hoffmann in a southern-like rigged barks motive that prove that. Still he manages to give a confident performance as he ranges a variety of vocals during the whole album from mid paced rockers to up tempo fast riffing based with sing-along choruses through even a ballad.
“Freedom Metal” features 8 brilliant compositions that should make you bang your head, open a dozen of beers with your friends and dance your socks off. “The Turning Stone”, “Hijack The Night”, “Heat Feeler”, “Greek Fire”, “500 More”, “Womanize”,”‘Ol Girl” and “Night Oath” should have been instant classics, but the world (and music industry) we are living wasn’t never fair and probably these songs will remain a well-kept secret of old school metal fans that know just know how to rock and shout it loud.
The album was produced by Sanford Parker and the band. It was recorded and mixed at Semaphore Studios, Chicago, Illinois on December, 2007 and April/May, 2008. It was engineered and mixed by Sanford Parker. It was out via Cruz Del Sur in cd and in vinyl via Heavy BirtH Records.
