Devil sold His Soul
Blessed & Cursed

August 2010
Released: 2010, Century Media
Rating: 5.0/5
Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team

It’s been three years since the release of London’s post metal sextet Devil Sold His Soul unleashed their debut record A FRAGILE HOPE. This was a record that caught acclaim from Kerrang, Metal Hammer and Terrorizer during 2007 from which several tours including Download festival followed henceforth. Now their progressive and overwhelming sound returns with the follow up record BLESSED & CURSED set to be release 12th July 2010.



BLESSED & CURSED opens with the renewed confidence of ‘Tides’ which demonstrates a euphoric edge that is reminiscent of Envy’s Insomniac Doze album. This serves as a perfect opener to ‘Drowning/sinking’ in which the band showcase everything they are about: brutality, delicacy, ambiance and desperation. All these dynamics converge together building towards an outro that would send shivers down the spine of any fan of progressive music.



The unrelenting force of ‘The Disappointment’ with its bleak riffs and ground shaking drumming throws us in the apocalyptic battlefield in which Neurosis fans would feel quite at home with. ‘A Foreboding Sky’ spans across an eight minute terrain in which Edd’s vocals truly shine in accordance with the interwoven layers of melody which culminates into one of the best song ever written by these guys.



Upon reflection BLESSED & CURSED is a rare moment in music in which not a single note of music or vocal transition feels over compensatory or misplaced, everything is exactly where it needs it to be. If you have never heard of them before or if ‘A fragile Hope’ somehow evaded your music collection you could be forgiven, however to miss a band of this calibre at this point in their musical career would indeed be tragic.



(Ben Spencer)