After getting to know Swedish Hard Rock sensation of ECLIPSE and reviewing there epic album "Bleed And Scream" I was ready for another Swedish swift Rocker. I was really excited even ecstatic because ECLIPSE left me with a taste for more of the Swedish brand.

DEVILICIOUS is a Hard Rock quartet from Gothenburg, Sweden. According to their official bio there roots are dip into Stoner Rock, this is a great thing cause mixing Stony music with chunks of Rock creates a great Metal style that doesn't have a name. I call it GRAND MAGUS like"Iron Will" style (also a grand Swedish band), however mixing up those two special ingredients together isn't easy and very hard to muster.

DEVILICIOUS from top to bottom does the same thing Stoner riffs in a more Hard Rock rhythm. There isn't anything special here however they do it pretty good. "Hollywood" is for me an epic song with mind blowing riffing, vocals and great bridge section, also I rarely take in consideration clips but the "Hollywood" video and the song does make you wish you could go on the road riding out there to Hollywood.

"Cock Blocker" and "Here Comes The Blues" are maybe the real deal of pure Hard Rock on the Album, nice strumming, a clean cut Rock strumming. On the other hand, "In Seth" showed that coalescing two great genres into one can also make something good. An honorable mention goes to "Love Explosion", again a Stoner riff but this time much faster gives this song some kind of Hard Rock flavor.

I have been battling with myself regarding "The Esoteric Playground" whether it is a bad album or a good one. On a matter of fact I want say its good as it is a nice mix-up of the Stoner inflammation with Hard Rock, however the mix-up wasn't fully integrated well and has it shortcoming. Though it's not that superior, thumbs up goes to Mikael Jacobsson with a great low end vocals that sounds pretty impressive in the more Stoner oriented songs than the Hard Rock ones. I am sure that the next will be one up on the scale no matter which direction that band chooses. So, if you are into MONSTER MAGNET or ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY, this album will probably appeal to you but if you are an ECLIPSE fan or a pure Hard Rock fan you will probably find it a little bit hard to swallow, again except for the epic "Hollywood" that will probably appeal to everybody.