Blood Feast

The Devil's Rejects

Not to be confused with the Austrian Groove Metal band under the same name. These […]
By "Der Bärtige Mann" Gareth Beams
February 10, 2020
The Devil's Rejects - Blood Feast album cover

Not to be confused with the Austrian Groove Metal band under the same name. These are the Norwegian offering of the name THE DEVIL'S REJECTS. They get their tyhemese from Horror films, which is in general sometimes good, sometimes cheesy. You can judge for yourself. They have already released a demo under the same name as this album containing tracks 2, 6, 7, 4, 5 & 3 in that order. They released this back in 2016. So lets hear what this offering gives us.

"Seven Women for Satan" starts off with a SLAYER-esq riff, you'll know which I mean. The pace is not at high levels, but the melodies work together to create something in the regions of what POSSESSED would be happy with. The rhythm is catchy enough to make the song work, yes, it is a little cheesy, but it is executed well enough to make it work. This is in fact the title of a 1976 horror film starring absolutely no one I have ever heard of.

"Season of the Witch" is in fact a 1972 George A. Romero film. That is where the sample is from. Its got a very progressive start, slowly building up, which works really well. A more aggressive vocal stance comes over the song. More samples are put into this song, allowing a break down and the progressive build up to return. "Castle Freak" is the name of a 1995 film.  Starts off with seemingly a sample from the film. The start is once more progressive, building up slowly, but nicely. The pace set works well to build the melodies without exploding. It can be hard to take horror themed songs seriously, but you have to take the musical skills seriously. Great song.

"Death Walks at Midnight" is another 1972 horror movie title. Seemingly goes with the repeated start, progressing slowly to build into the song. Again, you can hear the influence from SLAYER, but many Thrash bands do that. It feels like a much slower version of CHILDREN OF BODOM - "Bodom After Midnight". The song tries to build up, never hits a great pace, but still has the melody build up well enough. The song does not expand a great deal, but as the overall balance is so well composed, it works, though it is hard to work out if they could have expanded more.

"Color Me Blood Red" is the title of a 1965 film where A crackpot artist kills various people to use their blood as his new crimson red color for his paintings. This song picks up the pace a bit, and as it is a noticeable difference, it works as a good change to the album. The melodies form the instruments have picked up in technicality also, which adds a great depth to the album. It still does not go too fast, its like a slower version of DARKTHRONE - "Artic Thunder", I just wish they would release the brakes and go for it.

"She Wolf of the SS" 1975 this time for the film tittle. Picks up the pace again, it has a good build up, but still remains reserved on going further with the pace. The melodies seem like they are waiting on a screeching solo to break the barriers, but this never arrives. Could have gone many ways, but they play it safe and keep it within the lines of the album. "The Heretic" is the name of the 2nd Exorcist film, out in 1977. This has another SLAYER style build up, but doesn't expand. It has the vocals aggressive and coarse, but somewhat reserved. The pace does go up a gear, which is a good thing for the album, but still feels like it could have gone further. The solo is what has been needed for the album.

"Nude for Satan" is a 1974 Italian horror film title. This one starts slower than the las few, which is somewhat disappointing. The song is more progressive, the melodies winding in within another. The song is gently taking us through until the close of the album, there are no real shocks or new elements, but it doesn't fade away for the sake of it.

Go on IMDB for some of these films, some look so bad that they must be good. 1970's (mainly) horror films have inspired this album, with a few modern musical twists it really works. Thy remind me of a more horror fan based EVIL SCARECROW. Imagine that tour. This album will go into a mixed playlist very well, but can become repetitive if listened to throughout.

7 / 10

Good

Songwriting

7

Musicianship

7

Memorability

7

Production

7
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"Blood Feast" Track-listing:

1. Seven Women for Satan
2. Season of the Witch
3. Castle Freak
4. Death Walks at Midnight
5. Color Me Blood Red
6. She Wolf of the SS
7. The Heretic
8. Nude for Satan

The Devil's Rejects Lineup:

Runar Pettersen - Guitars & Vocals
Bjørn Arild Kristensen - Bass Guitar
Aleksander U. Serigstad - Guitars
Raymond Nord - Drums

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