Demon Eye
Leave the Light
Soulseller Records
2014
Well, upon receiving this album I was curious, you see, there was another band that had released an album with Doogie White at the vocals, but I suppose those guys were Demon’s Eye and they were Germans while these guys are Americans, from North Carolina and they seem to enjoy delving into the 70s and performing a heavy rock hybrid that owes a lot to Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, even slight hints of Heep, in both cases, to the rockier, “incarnations” of those bands.
The band seems to have both the drummer and the rhythm guitarist contributing vocals, with one of them, being slightly better... as they are both not tonally perfect, but one of them, seems to be rather unstable on sustaining the notes, hence he can sound pretty annoying at times, pretty much dragging them down, which is a shame, as they have somehow managed to record a pretty nice “retro” sounding album, with some pretty nice songs.
Opener “Hecate”, could have been a pretty good track, but whoever sings on it, is the “inconsistent” dude, so it’s a bit of a mixed bag, as he sounds like a weaker Count Fondelius, (Count Raven) ie – a much shittier version of a shittier Ozzy.
Then there’s the nightmarish “Shades of Black” also lifted from the EP they released last year, as is actually a few more tracks... actually half the album… hahaha.
“Secret Sect” is an “original” and it’s weaved in mystery, welcoming the change of vocalists as well.
Then follow the pretty hellish, “Adversary” and the dramatic “Edge of a Knife”, both of which have some pretty cool melodies and choruses...
“Witches Blood” features some evil vocals rather prominently, and is heavier but it’s not until the catastrophic Sabbathic rites of the “Fires of Abalam” that also are lifted from the EP, albeit, sounding much improved... that things feel as if they’ve come full circle...
“Devil Knows the Truth” comes also from the EP and is a lot more psych and bluesy with some really cool solos, running right through its middle and driftaway vocals, that this time sound just spot on.
“The Banishing” is slower and even more peaceful, probably tracking earlier back in time to the early 70s even attempting to jump a decade back to the psych of the 60s and it partially succeeds on its mission.
“From Beyond” is also another decent rocker that brings the clock forward before, the band “Stones” everything on the “Silent One” the final song of the album also lifted from the EP.
All in all, while they sound as a tribute to the 70s leviathans of the rock sound, they do seem to have a soul of their own as well as the ability to craft interesting tunes, hence, even though, I tend to hate, retro sounding bands, because most of them blindly copy the sound, without being able to “craft good songs” based on “the sound” without “completely copying” songs, these guys expertly seem to avoid such pitfalls. If they manage to better their vocals a bit… I’ll be a steady fan... hell I might even be getting this, properly, for all I know...
The band seems to have both the drummer and the rhythm guitarist contributing vocals, with one of them, being slightly better... as they are both not tonally perfect, but one of them, seems to be rather unstable on sustaining the notes, hence he can sound pretty annoying at times, pretty much dragging them down, which is a shame, as they have somehow managed to record a pretty nice “retro” sounding album, with some pretty nice songs.
Opener “Hecate”, could have been a pretty good track, but whoever sings on it, is the “inconsistent” dude, so it’s a bit of a mixed bag, as he sounds like a weaker Count Fondelius, (Count Raven) ie – a much shittier version of a shittier Ozzy.
Then there’s the nightmarish “Shades of Black” also lifted from the EP they released last year, as is actually a few more tracks... actually half the album… hahaha.
“Secret Sect” is an “original” and it’s weaved in mystery, welcoming the change of vocalists as well.
Then follow the pretty hellish, “Adversary” and the dramatic “Edge of a Knife”, both of which have some pretty cool melodies and choruses...
“Witches Blood” features some evil vocals rather prominently, and is heavier but it’s not until the catastrophic Sabbathic rites of the “Fires of Abalam” that also are lifted from the EP, albeit, sounding much improved... that things feel as if they’ve come full circle...
“Devil Knows the Truth” comes also from the EP and is a lot more psych and bluesy with some really cool solos, running right through its middle and driftaway vocals, that this time sound just spot on.
“The Banishing” is slower and even more peaceful, probably tracking earlier back in time to the early 70s even attempting to jump a decade back to the psych of the 60s and it partially succeeds on its mission.
“From Beyond” is also another decent rocker that brings the clock forward before, the band “Stones” everything on the “Silent One” the final song of the album also lifted from the EP.
All in all, while they sound as a tribute to the 70s leviathans of the rock sound, they do seem to have a soul of their own as well as the ability to craft interesting tunes, hence, even though, I tend to hate, retro sounding bands, because most of them blindly copy the sound, without being able to “craft good songs” based on “the sound” without “completely copying” songs, these guys expertly seem to avoid such pitfalls. If they manage to better their vocals a bit… I’ll be a steady fan... hell I might even be getting this, properly, for all I know...