Monolith.gr review of 'thirty pieces' Here we have a band from Indianapolis, US that started in 2002 as the winner of a local battle of the bands contest and found its way to their debut album on Benchmark Records one year later. The opening track "Mouthfull Of Spite" is a great Karma To Burn-ish instrumental rocket! And I have to admit that putting an instrumental track first on the track list of the CD isn't the best option. But it's my favorite track and one of the best of the album so it works alright. In continuation things change since vocalist/guitarist Steve Janiak grabs the mic. "Lamb" and "The New Black" got this doomy, sabbathic atmosphere that is always so attractive to my ears. "Tractor Fuckin' Trailer" which is also the first clip of the band is a classic heavy speedball and definitely the catchiest track of the album. The highlight of the album and my other favorite is "Lowest Common Denominator" with an unbelievable devilish riff that sticks in your mind (I guess I will always be an eternal slave of wah wah). After hearing the album a couple of times the general impression is that the Devil boys are a quite tight band with strong rhythm section and great melodic riffing that moves from slow doom bitterness to heavy / stoner madness. Janiak's vocals are filling the tracks with aggression although sometimes the resemblance with Garcia is unavoidable ("Swathe"). So the question if one more stoner band is worth our attention is easily answered. Devil to pay might never be superstars and they surely didn't rock the cradle of stoner scene and their debut might not worth 30 pieces of silver (I don't know what is the cost of silver these days). But they laid down a far more better album than a lot more famous bands of the scene and after all it's a band that travells constantlly to play live (44 scheduled gigs in the states until now in 2004!) Definitely worth our attention and respect since they're trying to keep the true spirit of rock 'n' roll alive which is for me, the live shows. Keep on rockin' guys!