Album: Devil Sold His Soul – Blessed and Cursed

This is the fourth official release from South West UK’s ambient prog metal outfit Devil Sold His Soul, and their second studio album; previous releases include the 2005 EP ‘Darkness Prevails’, a split EP release with Tortuga (2008) and debut album ‘A Fragile Hope’ (2007). Just like its predecessor, ‘Blessed and Cursed’ is distinctly epic, hauntingly beautiful and has the classic Devil Sold His Soul mark stamped all over it. Pounding, rhythmic drums combined with spellbinding guitar harmonies, and Ed Gibbs’ stunning vocals make for a mesmeric journey from start to finish. Engineered by guitarist Jonny Renshaw and mixed by Steve Evetts, ‘Blessed and Cursed’ sounds huge, and has all the right elements to keep die hard DSHS fans extremely satisfied with the finished product. This is the natural progression of a band caught in an elite niche of the UK metal sound, and is progressive post hardcore at its very best! It’s hard to pick out any of the 10 tracks on this but stand out tracks for this reviewer are ‘Crane Lake’, ‘Callous Heart’ and the outstanding ‘The Disappointment’.  Mention has to be given also to Ed’s singing on ‘A Foreboding Sky’, relatively rare, but very welcome, addition to an album almost entirely composed of his (superb) screaming vocals.  Overall an incredible offering from one of the UK’s most talented, and underrated, bands that we highly recommend you buy.

9/10

Marianne Harris