Style: death metal, black metal, live, satanic
Label: Hell Attacks Productions
Year: 2001
Home: Ohio
Members: Don of the Dead ~ vocals
Jim Sadist ~ drums
Megiddo, Duaniac ~ guitars
Insidious, Grim ~ bass
Next to a bootleg this probably has some of the worst production on a live album I've ever heard. But, the concert is actually very good & the bad production values almost make it that much more of an authentic listening experience ... considering Nunslaughter tends to have some pretty bad production values on their studio albums as it is they sound here just like they always do. Isn't a band supposed to sound the same on stage as they do off? Isn't that what everyone wants? For a band of such a venomous & insulting image & message the concert is surprisingly very personal with lots of easy-going almost jestful banter by Don of the Dead in between every song that makes this seem more like a friendly gathering than one of the heaviest & most Satanic bands on the scene for over two decades. For the song "Satanic", which lasts a mere 40 seconds, Don says afterwards "that's the worst song ever written, that's horrible, don't ever ask for that again". In some ways every song in their repertoire is the worst song ever written, right up there with the unmusical early forays of Mayhem. It doesn't help that most songs average 1-2 minutes & there's no guitar solos or anything that might typically be considered a solo. It's almost like an satirical odd joke right out of This Is Spinal Tap. It makes the concert that much better because however bad it all is this is no obscure garage band. These guys take their music very seriously, considering they're never going to be a commercial success they've got to be inner driven. While, it's undoubtedly obvious these guys have way too much fun at what they do. Someone take away their handmade Satanic ID cards. Where's Anton LaVey when you need him? Devil Music features excerpts from two concerts with two different line-ups which has enough of an effect on the music that at times it sounds like two different bands, both equally obnoxious musically. Part of the highlight of the concert is the banter, including such childish cries by Don as "let's move along quickly cause evil is fast", "you fuckin' grave robbin' freaks" & the delightful "let's fuck a witch." There's even an audience member that yells out "I hate my parents too", which belays the probable youth of the audience, somewhere around 21, while one can tell with the sound of applause that neither concert is attended by more than a few dozen people, that's assuming that all of the audience is applauding & not stunned into devilish silence by Don's menacing stare. It's such a fun concert that by the end of the album you won't notice the bad production so much, or even that it was probably recorded in a tiny club that didn't offer much in the way of good recording abilities or acoustics. This is actually a more interesting recording than the studio album Hell's Unholy Fire from which many of the songs were taken as the rawness of the venue suits the band. For many bands live albums do not do them justice, while other bands, most famously the Doors, are better live than in the studio. This band sounds here exactly what it is - no pretentiousness, not very serious, Satanism is evil but also fun, with pure insane playing with no technical fireworks. Actually, I kinda want to see them when they come to town after hearing this concert. It's that fascinating a listen. Yes, I expect some readers to turn away seeing this review due to the Satanic implications of the music, poseurs or not. But, I figure metalheads won't mind or even care, let alone are used to it as Satanic imagery & ideas proliferate metal. Further, I'm not endorsing Satan worship. My goal is to introduce the entire spectrum of metal. The Satanic branch is a small but important aspect of the metal family tree, even if the bands are probably just posing. Though, all things aside, I find I can't help but enjoy Nunslaughter every time I hear them. For all their blasphemy they make good straight-ahead metal of the purest kind. Albeit, according to the Satanic Bible the most Satanic music is that which is original & individual, for example: the Beach Boys. Given the Beach Boys as the litmus test these guys have a long way to go to live up to their image. Consider that one!
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