Invincible
Demon
DEMON was formed in 1979 by vocalist David Hill and released their debut album “Night of the Demon” in 1981. After their 1982 follow-up album “The Unexpected Guest” the band experimented beyond the NWOBHM sound as they moved towards a more melodic direction while retaining the traditional heavy metal black magic lyrical style. They took another change in direction in 1983 with “The Plague” that marked a swing towards a more progressive attitude, adding the keyboards to the album's sound. Lyrically, the band also changed direction, switching to a more overtly political style that characterized their albums for the rest of their career. On their 45th anniversary as a band DEMON has released their new studio album, aptly titled “Invincible” on May 17, 2024 via Frontiers Music Srl which promises to offer a sound that melts their classic root Hard Rock approach with the Progressive and Epic overtones of the mid 80’s blending Dave Hill’s raspy and soulful vocals which are the common denominator since the band’s inception all while maintaining their signature sound and taste of ghoulish image and elegant music.
Track two opens the album with the first real song “In my Blood” that showcases the powerful and soulful vocals that define the band’s sound as they take centerstage reminiscent of David Coverdale vocal stylings all nicely backed by a pleasant and simple rocking riff but what really stands out are the alluring harmonies that combine to deliver a blueprint “radio friendly” song. The next two songs turn it up a notch with a harder driven, gritty pace on “Face the Master” and “Ghost from the Past” with assaulting riffs and savage chops that bring a spine chilling, evil attitude to the forefront. “Hole in the Sky” opens with rhythmic guitar blasting through and thundering drums kicking at your skull that felt like vampires marching towards me as the eerie vocals complete this sinister rocking song. We depart from the haunting sounds back towards more NWOBHM on the next three tracks “Break the Spell”, “Rise Up” and “Invincible” which all get back to basic raw and hulking riffs creating a nasty and intense straight forward crunch rendering a down and dirty blackened melody with the meaty vocals gripping and ripping.
The album ends strong on the rock ballad “Forever Seventeen” with heartfelt lyrics overlaying the bombastic riffs and muscular solo fueled by passionate, fiery vocals. DEMON has all the arrows pointing up, they bring all the necessary ingredients to the table with strong straight forward, smash mouth rocking, accelerated chops and galloping, electrifying riffs all fused together by the superb powerful vocals that delivers on all levels.
9 / 10
Almost Perfect
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Invincible" Track-listing:
1. Intro
2. In my Blood
3. Face the Master
4. Ghost from the Past
5. Beyond the Darkside
6. Hole in the Sky
7. Break the Spell
8. Rise Up
9. Invincible
10. Cradle to the Grave
11. Breaking the Silence
12. Forever Seventeen
Demon Lineup:
Dave Hill - Lead vocal, backing vocals
Dave Cotterill - Guitars, backing vocals
Paul Hume – Guitars, backing vocals
Paul Fasker Johnson – Bass, backing vocals
Neil Ogden – Drums, backing vocals
Karl Waye - Keyboards
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