Right now HORNED ALMIGHTY can be called as spearhead of the Danish Black Metal scene, recruiting their members from also Aarhus-based bands Exmortem, and the split-up Mareridt. Those two bands dominated the small Danish scene up from the beginning of the nineties.
The Devil’s Music is HORNED ALMIGHTY’s first full length release created under professional recording studio conditions, and in comparison with older releases, it’s a big step in the right direction.
Without regard to casualties, dirty and rough Thrash and Black Metal are mixed up with a small amount of ass kicking Rock’n’Roll (mostly brought in by the excellent bass guitar). What comes up are 40 minutes of straight forward rushing music with particularly outstanding riffing. Waiting for something like break for breath is futile, and even when there is one of the few mid-tempo parts, The Devil’s Music still has enormous power and literally forces the listener to bang his head. Fully convincing is the singer, calling himself simply S., with his mixture of aggressive screeching, raspy Thrash vocals and here and there some growls. His four lads are acting as strong as the singer and go to work with lots of groove. Did I already mention that the bass is really outstanding? *g*
To point out some particular songs as a pre-listening recommendation is everything but easy. I decide for the mid-part of the album, consisting of Discipline Of The Almighty and The Devil’s Music, both around three minutes long and immediately catchy. The first song has a very impressive, extremely fast but quite melodic lead riff throughout the complete song, the second one follows almost the same track, but has an additional excellent guitar solo, by the way the only one on the album.
Although it seems, as if the guys ran out of ideas at about half time of the CD, that does not decrease the listening pleasure, even though some structures sound very familiar after having heard the first half. At least I didn’t care as I instantly listened to the whole Devil’s Music a second time ;)
The Devil’s Music is fun, owns a powerful and heavy production without being too “true” … So what more would you want? Ok, maybe a bit more playing time, and if that’s not possible, maybe slightly more ideas for the second half of the next release. A band to be reckoned with!