Devil Master: Satan Spits on Children of Light (2019)

I can be susceptible to peer pressure.  At times.  I saw a lot of hype leading up to the release of this album.  It was all over Decibel, among many other metal sites.  I kind of liked the cover art as well.  And so, I decided I would give it a shot.  And holy shit.

This Philly group has been making waves in their area for a few years now and have released a couple of minor releases, before catching the ear of Relapse Records.  This is the band's debut full-length and what a way to start things off.

With the absolutely insane cover art and the band's sound, which borrows very obviously from Japanese d-beat bands like GISM and Disclose, one would be forgiven for believing this was a Japanese band.  But they are not and they combine the previously mentioned influences with a variety of other styles, including very strong black metal influences.  Venom is probably the most obvious such black metal influence, but I would probably also throw another Japanese band out there: Sabbat. 

With manic punk energy in the rhythm section and wailing guitar leads, this album is one wild ride from start to finish.  The band never really slows down all that much and they sound like they had an absolute blast recording it.  Everything is up-tempo with some very impressive drumming propelling the songs forward.  The tone of the lead guitar which sort of covers everything else up is slightly unsettling and creepy with a vibe that reminds me a lot of goofy Japanese horror movies like Hausu. 

This is a very strong early contender for Album of the Year for 2019.  There is a lot going on in this album and it gets more interesting every time I hear it.  I bet they would be a blast to see live.