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DEVIL MASTER
Ecstasies Of Never Ending Night

Relapse (2022)
Rating: 8/10

Arguably one of the year’s most eagerly awaited releases, Ecstasies Of Never Ending Night is the second album from Philadelphia horror storytellers Devil Master. This creepy combo dabbles in unconventional black metal, blood-spattered punk n’ dusty Goth rock, and the result is an interesting and atmospheric mash-up for the nightside eclipse.

Ten tracks, 40 minutes… what more could you ask for as a tinkling, suspenseful intro leads us into ‘Enamoured In The Throes Of Death’ – a devilishly toxic whip of vicious deathrock and galloping ghoulishness.

The fizz of hostile punk is evident, married to the black metal themes. Barking vocal traits engage in combat with sneering, speeding axe work while drums n’ bass seethe to the sound of flitting bats. Devil Master plumbs the depths of 80s Gothic Chinese, echoing their spiteful commands down chilly hallways as whole gusts of slick thrash blow away the cobwebs.

The likes of ‘Golgotha’s Cruel Song’ and ‘The Vigour Of Evil’ are all delivered with sneering pace as the band snarls graveside into frosty gales. The record feels pitch black, with only the ears open to the satanic, bat-winged tirades the posse bestows. ‘Acid Black Mass’ brings steadier chugs within its wiry frame, while ‘Abyss In Vision’ glints with steely precision amidst a tirade of tumbling percussion.

Strangely, for the unorthodox feel the band generates, there’s somewhat of an air of predictability and familiarity as the group casts its gooey net; the spidey tingles of ‘Shrines In Cinder’ combines traditional metal values and thorny black metal assaults.

However, through the blackened, Gothic gauze there are the impressive, angular compositions that close out the album – a trio of jet-black attacks featuring more complex, less accessible arrangements. ‘Funerary Gyre Of Dreams & Madness’ is criminally short yet expansive and stark, ‘Precious Blood Of Christ Rebuked’ reeks of menace in its orchestration, and finally ‘Never Ending Night’ shuffles and twangs like a soundtrack to a dancing witches coven before enveloping the listener like a black cloak of rancid, musty Gothic spikiness.

For the most part, Devil Master’s new collection from the vault features the same dramatic, horror-drenched torrents as before. In spite of the myriad of influences, the band still has a persistent vein of dicey black metal aesthetics gelled to Goth rock catchiness; the sum being a sound that is nifty, short, sharp and not as bestial or befuddling as some may suggest. However, for a night among the tombstones Ecstasies Of Never Ending Night still chills the bones in equal measure.

Neil Arnold

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