Bullymag.com review of "thirty pieces" Devil To Pay: American-bred Heavy Doom By Ken Wohlrob 02-17-04 Devil To Pay - Thirty Pieces of Silver Benchmark Records I have two stacks of CDs on my desk. Sixteen in one, one lone CD in the other. The taller pile has CDs from a range of heavy-bands, on a range of labels, most of whom are putting a ton of promotion behind these releases. The music is alright, it has a bit of a crunch, but for the most part all of them lack that spark, that mark of originality and energy that makes you pay attention. On the other side is this one little disc from a small band in Indiana called Devil To Pay. That bastard outweighs all the others. From the first note to the very last chord, you are blown away by the sheer weight and power of Devil To Pay's music. Charging out of Indianapolis, a town not necessarily known for a quality heavy music scene, these guys play with a power and energy that falls somewhere between High On Fire and COC. In fact, on first listen, one would almost mistake them for a New Orleans act because of the hearty doses of doom, heaviness, and groove. Kicking off with the hard-charging instrumental "Mouthful of Spite" they set a hi-mark to match for the rest of the album. Thankfully, they hit it every time. As soon as the power groove of "The Lamb" kicks in, you're hooked on their Sabbath-revivalism. It is a pure American sound where doom collides with metal and stoner riffs - sharing a lot in common with great bands like Spirit Caravan, Abdullah, Goatsnake, COC, Kyuss, and many more - but Devil To Pay make it their own, with a more hard-charging sound than those acts. Considering they've only been together two short years, it's quite an accomplishment to reach the level of such-well respected company. But when you hear these songs - from "The New Black" to "Whores of Babylon" - you know these guys deserve the respect. Tracks such as "Dinosaur Steps," "Angular Shapes" and "Tractor Fuckin' Trailer" show they are master riff writers, able to combine an infectious hook with sheer power. At the same time, lead vocalist/guitarist Steve Janiak is not ripping off Ozzy, nor falling back on the modern crutch of just growling. He can sing and harmonize, but can also be guttural and wail when the song needs it, similar to John Garcia in his delivery. The band also has a tremendous sense of dynamics; they're not relying solely on the riffs to carry the song, understanding that tracks such as "Valley of the Dogs" work better with space and atmosphere offsetting sheer heaviness. It's a solid album from beginning to end, just about crushing everything I've heard in the past two months. Best of all, the damn thing is uncategorizeable; you can't make it fit into the stoner, doom, or metal categories. It's just downright heavy and that's all that matters.