Digitalmetal.com review of 'thirty pieces' Walking away from the 2003 Indianapolis Battle Of The Bands competition with a first-place trophy and a $10,000 prize in their pockets, Indy homeboys Devil To Pay now release a scorcher of a debut to rise to the top of the Midwestern stoner-rock heap. Opener “Mouthful Of Spite” channels that Karma To Burn vibe that blossoms into a wickedly groovy instrumental, but it’s the second track, “The Lamb,” that begs the question: is Kyuss/Unida frontman John Garcia really in this band? No, but guitarist/vocalist Steve Janiak sounds exactly like him, with a cleaner sustain in the longer notes (check out “Dinosaur Steps”). The doomy “Whores Of Babylon” and “Valley Of The Dogs” have gravitic swaggers that draw out Janiak’s gravelly tenor to its full potential, while “Angular Shapes” sports a more calculated chordal attack, with guitarist Rob Secrist spitting barbed riffage and drummer Chad Prifogle matching him beat for varied beat. “Tractor F**kin’ Trailer” rolls out a mammoth Slo Burn-ing groove, and both “Swathe” and “Lowest Common Denominator” take a more deliberate (old) Abdullah tack. If Thirty Pieces Of Silver is only their first album, Devil To Pay are about to enjoy a fruitful career in heavy rock. [Chris Ayers]