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1. I Was Promised a Hunt
2. The Lullaby of the Burning Boy
3. ...If Not a Vessel?
4. In the Loving Arms of Lunacy's Secret Demons
5. Dance of the Elements
6. White Storm of Teeth
7. Tabula Rasa
The Devil's Blood announced at the beginning of 2013 that
they have "returned to nothingness." At the same time, they announced
that plans had already been put into motion to release new material. The new
seven song album, III: Tabula Rasa or Death and the Seven Pillars, will serve
as the band's final full-length release. A new track, White Storm of Teeth, has
been made available for streaming at metalblade.com/thedevilsblood, where fans
can also pre-order the album, and view the art, which was done by Manuel
Tinnemans. III: Tabula Rasa or Death and the Seven Pillars will be available
for purchase on iTunes April 30th, via all other digital outlets (Google Play,
Amazon MP3, etc.) on May 28th, and on CD and vinyl June 11th.
SL comments on the release: "Prior to our disbanding on
the 22nd of January 2013 we had been active with the pre-production of what was
to be our third album. 7 songs, the complete outline of the album, had been, in
humble form, recorded in my home recording studio and these demos were supposed
to be the template for our studio recordings. Obviously we would never make it
that far and the initial shock of that fact saddened us greatly. After but a
few days we listened to this material again and decided that even though the
audio quality might not be what people have come to expect from a The Devil’s
Blood release, the song material was and is the best we have ever done. We came
to the conclusion that these songs deserve to become a part of The Canon and
that we would release them as is.
"I spent a few days gathering all the demo material
together, made a very simple mix and gave the material to our friend and mentor
Pieter G. Kloos to master in his studio. Here we present you with the titles of
the material and the artwork which was done by Manuel Tinnemans.
"The song we have chosen to release now is "White
Storm of Teeth". More so than the other material this song speaks to the
completion and transubstantiation that always follows an Occult path. Not the
end of a journey but the start of a completely new one. Built around thirteen
stanzas in the first part and thirteen stanzas in the second part the process
of inner enlightenment through confusion and entropy and the initiation through
the Death of the lower self is illustrated. This theme is rampant throughout
the record and its lyrics but here it culminates and completely devours itself.
After this work no words are needed and, on the album, none are offered.
"The Devil's Blood has always been an entity that
defied any fealty or thankfulness towards any earthly influence. But we as
people need not hold to this paradigm any longer. We therefore wish to express
our sincere thankfulness to all those who have supported this weird quest and
have made the earthly woes to not work against us. You most definitely know who
you are.
"The record will be released by Ván Records in Europe
and the rest of the World and by Metal Blade in North
America . It will be available as digital download, CD and LP
starting the 30th of April in Europe and a date
soon to be announced in the USA/CAN. With thankfulness and a glad heart filled
with the pride of a work well done,
SL/.../AO"
A twenty-two minute long track by the name of “I Was
Promised a Hunt” starts off the album. For how I expected this to sound, as
they disbanded and never finished the production process of the album, it
sounds pretty good. The guitars have a nice slow groove to start things off
with quick snare rolls too and the solos are good as always. This is the first
time I’ve heard them add male vocals and I think it adds to the feel. It’s a
pretty progressive-like track, with slower bits and heavier pieces. The way the
guitars and drum flow on “The Lullaby of the Burning Boy” is very catchy and
have a nice flow. The use of female and male vocals harmonized gives it a nice
sound. After listening to the really long track previously, four minutes felt a
little short. The solos on “...If Not a Vessel?” were impressive. The riffs
were really great and have a heavy psychedelic feel.
The guitar sounded really great at the beginning of “In the
Loving Arms of Lunacy's Secret Demons” with an effect that gave it a lot of
twang and then a nice solo followed. The bass was really groovy on this track
and the leads added to it as well. “Dance of the Elements” starts off with a
nice heavy riff and a catchy bass line, and the about three minutes in it gets
mellow with some great lead riffs and solo. After that it picks up again, it’s
a great instrumental. The guitars are especially catchy on “White Storm of Teeth”
and the beat of the drum that goes with it doesn’t help, although it did get a
little repetitive. The louder guitar parts make it hard to hear everything
else, but I blame the recordings since they never finished polishing. The riffs
and bass are really badass on “Tabula Rasa” and the lead parts are always good,
there are impressive solos as well. This track brings a psychedelic end to a
good album with an instrumental.
For their final album, I was kind of expecting more. This
album could have been better if they actually finished up with it, instead of
disbanding and not caring. I feel the volume levels being touched up would have
helped. It is a good album, don’t get me wrong, but it sounds rushed production
wise and drags it down. Pick this up if you are a fan of the band, but if you
want their real talent listen to “The Thousandfold Epicentre.”
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