To the Devil a Daughter

Titled like the horror movie, this album is far from being as crappy. Just the few first notes of She Laid Him Down make you realize that this is something above average. The distinct sound of British heavy metal is there, but there’s also more melody than one would dream of. But the music isn’t just very melodic; it’s also very rhythmic. The result they reach using the same rhythm for every instrument is close to fantastic. Something that is absolutely brilliant though, is Dave Crawford’s vocals. His voice is superb, except on the could’ve-done-without ballad You’ve Taken My Love. The guitars are rocky, except for those of You’ve Taken My Love, where they sound more like The Beatles than anything else.

Except for that track, this is quite a solid release, with competent choruses. Too bad those guys disappeared from the planet Earth just after releasing this LP. Personally I’m not too fond of Life Beyond the Grave (not only because of the lyrics, but also its rather uninspired melody) and Night Fever, which don’t really fit in. But songs with riffage like Helen of Troy, drums like Tight Fisted, rhythms like the title song and leads like She Laid Him Down are instant classics. For the guitars are in fact what makes this record so great. They’re fast, playful and warm – irresistible. Low distortion levels can do wonders. To the Devil a Daughter not too mature of a release; it’s just some good ol’ rockin’!

Must agree with the above poster. I had very little to go on, thankfully European collectors were too happy to help me obtain this gem. This album, like I stated in a review for the metalpage.de site, is more jaw dropping for what it is NOT than what it is. With the kick ass occultish cover, and song titles like 'Night Of Vengeance,' 'Life Beyond The Grave,' and 'Highway To Hell' you'd be expecting something along the lines of the U.S. Incubus like death metal, maybe even some hard edged thrash. Incubus is none of these, the guitar tones are quite melodic, and the vocals even take on an almost Beatles tone (especially on 'You've Taken My Love.') 'She Laid Him Down' starts the disc off with a tale of a woman taking revenge on a cheating man, of course it ain't no ballad and rocks! 'Highway To Hell' is a great road ripping tune (driving down the highway at fast speed with this gem is a MUST) with great chorus work, something you'll find all the way through the disc. 'Life Beyond The Grave' is pretty horrific lyric wise, but the melodic aspect of the song makes you think of a marching song with the percussion and the great singing vocals prove this band was doing something QUITE different. 'To The Devil A Daughter,' there's another rockin' track! Even 'Helen Of Troy' has great moments, rocking away one moment and bringing out some amazingly melodic vocal choruses! 'You've Taken My Love' they could have done away with, it's the usual chick grabbing ballad again. 'Sophisticated Woman' wasn't great, but not bad either. All in all, it's worth tracking down, especially since it turns up in record webshops from time to time for not a lot of money. Shame they didn't release more albums... Go listen to it at the Vibrations of Doom Magazine classic albums section http://vibrationsofdoom.com