You'd be forgiven for thinking that you may have stumbled across a ROB ZOMBIE record whilst listening to "The Devil Made Me Do It", the third release from Horror Metallers SCUM OF THE EARTH. It's no coincidence though, considering that their lead vocalist gave his guitar talents to the first two ROB ZOMBIE albums. And whilst it's obvious that this is the genre that they love, I think this album will only appeal to specific people.

If you like your Metal, and you like your clubbing then, chances are, you may have already heard of this band. There's been a lot said recently about Rock and Metal bands fusing with the genre known as Dubstep. Now I know that may make some of you shudder with dread (myself included), but SCUM OF THE EARTH manage to incorporate it into their songs without overdoing it. Still doesn't make me hate it any less... Seriously though, they do lean more towards the Metal side of the music, rather than the 'club' side of the music, which is a relief. As expected, this is a high energy album - despite the band's new subject for the album centering around the end of the world (which didn't happen, of course). Well, saying that, the last track is called "Funeral March", and it certainly lives up to its name. Anyway, "The Devil Made me Do It" is the kind of albums that the fans are going to welcome, but I don't think is going to win anyone else over. Metal is a niche genre by itself; Horror Metal even more so.

That's not to say that it's not an objectively good album, it's just not for me. It's arranged very well, and doesn't feel like a mess of sound, or give you a headache. Riggs's singing is very much like Rob Zombie's, although that's probably to be expected - hell, even the the cover art is reminiscent of his - as he has been in both bands. It's not a criticism though, it's the style of music that he likes, so why not keep doing it? The band have said that they thought their sound was getting a bit stale, and have tried to mix things up a bit with this album. The instrumental side of things is also rather good, however I felt that it was too much of the same for me - but maybe that's the point for this kind of music.

All told, this album certainly wasn't for me, but I think it'll please the fans because it's solid, and shows that the band can still come up with fresh ideas. It's nothing groundbreaking, but for the devotees, I don't think it needs to be.