DEMON SPELL – Evil Nights

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6.0

• Band:
  DEMON SPELL
• Duration: 00:20:02
• Available from: 26/07/2024
• Label:

• Dying Victims Productions

First effort for this new Italian band that chooses to ignore the fact that we have been in the 21st century for a quarter of a century (sigh!), in favor of an attitude completely devoted to those 80s that meant so much to metal, to the point of still retaining a very powerful appeal for metalheads of old and new generations. And it is precisely a demonic spell that has captured the four Sicilian musicians, more or less all veterans of the underground scene between classic heavy and extreme metal, among whom we find Dario Casabona, historical ex-drummer of Schizo, and currently involved in Sulphur And Mercury.
The ultra-minimal cover in the style of “Burning A Sinner” by Witchfinder General and the logo in the essential gothic font visually anticipate the content of this album, that is, pure, classic heavy metal, with dark tones, but partly anchored to hard rock (see in this regard “Dark Deceiver” and the light-hearted “Evil Nights”).
Now, this EP is fun, well played and recorded with sounds perfectly in line with the '80s metal style that is proposed, which could be more than enough, given that the intent is certainly not to reinvent the wheel, but it must be said that the influence of Mercyful Fate is really heavy, thanks to the vocal style of Federico Fano, who takes up the chameleonic style of King Diamond in an incredibly convincing, but too slavish way. But it's not just this: the entire writing of the songs is very much inspired by the very first works of the Danes, we are referring especially to the self-titled debut EP and the previous material, the one collected in “Return Of The Vampire”, to be clear.
So, a bit like Attic are the modern version of – let's say – the more theatrical and complex Mercyful Fate and the solo King Diamond, Demon Spell seem to take directly from the earliest incarnation of Kim Petersen's creature, with a decidedly more direct approach.
We don't like to talk about a clone band, but the impression remains that – at least for the moment – the balance is decidedly tipped towards the tribute side, rather than towards a (minimum) personal reinterpretation of a way of conceiving and making heavy metal.
That said, the qualities exposed at the beginning remain, which, combined with the undoubted experience of the musicians involved, we hope can lead to a result capable of emancipating itself from a stylistic presence that is still truly cumbersome.