DOOMMANTIA review of “Heavily Ever After”

http://www.doommantia.com/2010/04/devil-to-pay-heavily-ever-after.html

From the beginnings of what was a fairly generic sounding band in the Stoner rock scene, Indianapolis’ Devil To Pay have created their own sound over the course of three mighty albums. “Heavily Ever After” is the third album from a band that should be much bigger in the scene than they currently are, i guess some bands are destined to remain underground legends and with the pathetic state of the current music industry, great bands like Devil To Pay properly can’t do much about it. Sad really because Devil To Pay are masters of catchy riff-rock and their latest album is a example of how good and exciting this musical genre can be if done right and with passion. The band are amazing in their musical scope within a musical style that for the most part if fairly limited. Within the 13 classic songs on the album, you can hear sounds that remind you of everything from Fu Manchu, C.O.C, Black Sabbath, Dozer to Crowbar to Soundgarden to name just a few. The wide variety of different approaches to the mighty riff gives Devil To Pay a unique, timeless vibe that very few other bands come close to getting. Devil to Pay has always delivered the goods in the form of kick ass riffing, catchy anthemic type melody lines, tighter than a duck’s ass drumming and unrelenting energy. Devil To Pay get better with each album and Heavily Ever After is simply a irresistible collection of hard rock songs that will stand the test of time.

From the ass-kicking stomper that is the opening track “Distemper”, you know you are in for a good time. Its a full-speed, hang on tight bruiser with catchier than hell riffing but they also know how to get a heavy slow groove happening as well. “When All Is Said and Done” and “Troglodyte Jive” are delivered with crushing intensity, you couldn’t call any of this Doom but it comes close in stages. “Megistotherium” is a song that i figure is about a dinosaur( no lyric sheet comes with the album) and this tune is about as heavy as as one of those prehistoric creatures. “Morningstar” is so damn catchy that is will set up house in your brain and live there for weeks even after just one spin of the track. If mainstream radio wasn’t so behind the times, tunes like this one would be on constant rotation. The instrumental track “Grimoires” sounds very much like the classic Diamond Head tune “Am I Evil”, remember Metallica didn’t write that song duh!! This merges perfectly into “Thinning The Herd” which is full of neck-snapping energetic riff work from Steve Janiak and Rob Hough. “Snake Charmer” and “High Horse” are both economical straight up rockers, Devil To Pay don’t waste a nano second anywhere on the album. Even the worse track in my opinion which is “Mancuerda” has more charm than most bands in the genre. Not since the classic days of Fu Manchu and Kyuss has there been a band with such groove that is so automatically infectious and addictive.

“Goat Leaves” has a classic drum intro from Chad Prifogle, his playing on the album is incredibly powerful, tight and precise. The sound of his kit is also excellent as is all the instruments on “Heavily Ever After”, the production is clear but still powerful enough to remove wallpaper. The final two tracks are two of the best on the album, “Dead Wrong” has a darkened groove while “Zealots” is one of the best examples of Devil To Pay’s rhythmic wall of solid grooving sound. The one guy i haven’t mentioned yet is bassist Matt Stokes who is remarkably solid throughout every track providing a perfect backbone to the crunchy rhythms. Its been a rocky road for Devil To Pay though, guitarist and vocalist Steve Janiak almost had his life cut short by a blood clot that formed after intestinal surgery. Maybe that is one of the reasons the band plays like there is no tomorrow, they have really delivered a passionate, hard driving rock album with “Heavily Ever After”. Bands like this are a dying breed, so buy this and play it loud. 9.5/10