Sleazegrinder.com review of "thirty pieces" Indiana-based Devil to Pay sound like fuzzy, trucker hat wearin' caterpillars driving John Deere tractors through a muddy trench fulla bones and skull fragments. Either that, or they sound just like Roadsaw, take yr pick. "Thirty Pieces of Silver" is their first full-length, and it's a clusterbomb of stoney booze metal, a woozy wobble-ride through the inner-sanctum of terminally Sabbath-damaged dopers plotting grand apocalypses out in the woods behind the shed, practicing shotgun tricks with fearless shaky fingers, embracing the doom descending on them like a down-filled parka in wintertime. Opener "Mouthful of Spite" is a supercharged mudshovel of an instrumental fulla wicked riffs and a thunderous backline and it's just about perfect for driving blind to. "Angular Shapes", as the title implies, is stoner-math-metal, but it sounds more like Seattle lumberjacks pullin' up tree stumps with hemi-powered pick-up trucks, "Swathe" is a dirty little chug-fest that's either homicidal or suicidal, but rocks plenty either way (and dig the rightoeus bass/vocals interplay mid-way through ), and closer "Valley of the Dogs" is an epic arena-sludge creepy crawl with a throbbing bass-line that sounds like a spaceworm eating it's way to earth. Heavy? This fucker's Superheavy, Jack. And like I said, DTP sound a lot like Boston's motor-stoner kingpins Roadsaw, but seein' as the 'Saw is my fave local band ever, that ain't a crime in my book. If you dig serious characters plyin' two-ton slabbage with technical precision, then brother, head Midwest. Or just send some money to the Midwest, whichever is easier. 02-01-04 |