Heart, with Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood, if you knew both Wilson sisters were Satantic and totally DTF*....
Don't EVEN tell me that doesn't sound AWESOME.
And I mean this as a compliment, but I cannot, for the life of me, put this on and stay awake. It's grandiose and catchy as hell, but also relaxing: it's so swirly and ethereal that you wanna just go away and take it all in... sift through that wonderful soft cold blackness that is sleep....
Course, when I wake up I've got candlewax on my nipples and my sphincter is stretched...
...probably not related, though, in all honesty.
ANYway...
...much like Ghost or In Solitude, there's a definite intentionally-retro, '70s vibe here... every song is disturbingly (suspiciously?) memorable... one or two trips through this one and you will be humming some Real Shit, yo....
"On the Wings of Gloria" features a main riff not unlike "Immigrant Song" with Ann Wilson singing on it... [and listen to all the lyrics here; they're understated but sinister as hell]... "Cruel Lover" with its BDSM-suggesting lyrics and its very Fleetwood Mac-ness in the arpeggiated chords and buh-da-BUM buh-da-BUM buh-da-BUM-"Tusk"-isms, sounds totally like something from Fleetwood Mac's eponymous album-- something that I would've heard in the radio in my '78 Ford LTD....
The Thousandfold Epicentre came out in Europe in 2011 but only comes out in the States (officially) in 2012. So, do I put it in "best of" lists for this year?
I don't always break the chronological rules of album review-- but when I do, I put The Devil's Blood at around #10 or 9 of 2011.
If you've ever wanted Fleetwood Mac to sound more like something quietly sinister, something trying to get you to "cut your flesh and worship Satan," as it were, The Thousandfold Epicentre is for you my friend.
You fucking weirdo.
Devil's Blood, website: http://www.thedevilsblood.com/declarations.htm
*We already know Stevie Nicks is. Hey-oh!
--Horn