DEAD SOUL TRIBE

Very cool to see Devon thank his former band mates from PSYCHOTIC WALTZ in the liner notes. He says "I still think about you all, I often see you in my dreams. I couldn't have done this without you".Travis Smith did the cover art. The pictures in the liner notes and the whole packaging in general is first class.

"Powertrip" is an energetic opener with sound bites from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" thrown in to great results.This is a heavy track with some crushing sections. A good opener. "Comin' Down" also opens with a movie sound bite, this time from "The Buddy Holly Story". A dark and heavy soundscape comes trampling in.The vocals are excellent as they go from reserved to passionate. "Anybody There ?" features these haunting waves of sound. Very spooky to say the least. After a minute he says in a scared voice "Anybody there ?". It blends into "The Haunted" as heavy riffs come crashing in. It settles down as vocals come in, although the heavy guitar comes back as the contrast continues. Ripping guitar 3 minutes in. Man I like Devon's vocals. This might be my favourite track.

"The Drowning Machine" features heavy bass and drums. Heck the guitars are heavy too ! This one reminds me of PSYCHOTIC WALTZ. "You" is heavy. Ok that's an understatement. Great vocals as guitars just rip it up. Another heavy, dark rocker. "Under The Weight Of My Stone" is a short acoustic guitar / vocal ballad. "Once" builds with a powerful undercurrent. Some excellent bass in this one. The guitar cries out after 3 minutes. "One Bullet" is almost doom-like after one minute, it is slower paced with tons of bottom end. Amazing sound 4 1/2 minutes in. "Empty" is like Devon's nod to JETHRO TULL as flute, vocals and strummed guitar lead the way. "Cry For Tomorrow" is an uptempo, heavy track. It's pretty good but my least favourite. "Into..." is a short spacey intro to "...Into The Spiral Cathedral". Drums come rumbling in and then vocals. It lightens, some piano after 3 minutes as the guitar solos over top.

A good start for Devon and the boys but their next three studio albums are much better in my opinion. 3.5 stars.