Sarah Jezebel Deva
The Corruption Of Mercy

July 2012
Released: 2011, Listenable Records
Rating: 2.0/5
Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team

This is the second solo album of ex Cradle of Filth’s ex backing singer, where she fronts a band bearing her name.



The opening song "No Paragon Of Virtue" starts off promising with orchestration and synths (most likely a touch added by Pzy-Clone from The Kovenant) but it rapidly goes downhill and there seem to be two songs playing at once or the band are out of time with each other. Basically there is far too much going on and it is simply dreadful. Luckily "The World Won't Hold Your Hand" has more structure but is still overly busy. Things get better with "A Matter of Convenience" which is quite a pleasant track.



A cover version of The Cranberries "Zombie" could have been interesting but is ruined by the blast drumming which masks of the melody of the tune, which makes it sound like a badly played version, when I am sure the musicians are at least more talented than that. Also what made the original so powerful was Dolores’ voice. Sarah has a powerful voice of her own but is not making full use of it here. This could have been so much more and is a disappointment.



"What Lies Before You" is a Danny Elfman style instrumental intro to Sirens which is a non offense song. The Eyes That Lie is a ballad with steady blast drumming throughout. Not that interesting but is saved by getting heavier just as it gets boring – luckily. The album closes with the title song The Corruption Of Mercy, which is probably the easiest listen in here. The album does well to save itself from the aforementioned bloody awful opening song but overall this album sounds disjointed and dated. Considering the pedigree of the artist involved I would have expected something better and more interesting.



Review by Victoria Fenbane