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Review:
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This debut album from Diabulus has had a long two year
gestation, it was originally recorded by top studio guru
Inaki Llarena back in 2008, but they felt that the sound
was too heavy, with the top classical talent they had enlisted
buried in the mix. So they asked Epica’s former guitarist
Ad Sluijter for his help, and he duly volunteered to remix
the CD himself, and a jolly good job he has done I must
say. Ad had jumped the Epica ship as it headed into extreme
waters, so it is perhaps no surprise that the closest parallel
here is early Epica.
This is a game of two halves (it is the World Cup after
all). After a brief intro comes the five best tunes – catchy,
commercial, melodic and groovy, but with heavier passages
and a bit of growling to remind you that they are a metal
band. Key features are the wonderful choir and Zuberoa Aznarez’s
glorious semi operatic voice, a softer version of Simone
Simons. Epica had Tony Blair, Diabulus have trumped this
with an appearance by Barack Obama on ‘New Era’, I didn’t
know that one of the most powerful men on the planet is
a metalhead. The half time entertainment is provided by
the beautiful piano and voice ballad ‘Lonely Soul’ and the
brief plaintive violin instrumental ‘The Seventh Gate’,
it is lovely to have these interludes to stop you ears getting
metal fatigue, an example other bands should follow.
The second half is a different beast, or should I say
beauty and the beast as it has a couple of growlers. The
songs are darker and heavier, the notable exception being
the melodic ‘Under the Shadow of a Butterfly’, and it ends
with the everything including the kitchen sink ‘St. Michael’s
Nightmare’. The first half is a worthy follow up to Epica’s
‘Consign to Oblivion’, however some songs in the second
half will divide opinion, for heavy fans these will be their
favourite tunes, while light fans will be reaching for the
skip button on a couple of occasions. Their Myspace is http://www.myspace.com/diabulusinmusicaband
and the secret is out at all good stockists. Ignoring
the three heavier, more controversial numbers, there are
still 8 cracking tunes, so it’s well worth
9 out of 10.
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