DEVIL DOLL

Been a wild ride through the Devil Doll rabbit hole, but we're finally here to the last record Mr. Doctor had ever made under the Devil Doll name. While technically the band isn't disbanded, at least according to some sources, it's safe to assume they aren't gonna really make any new music anytime soon. Though I could very well be wrong. Last year bands like Semiramis and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum came back. Guess it wouldn't be too far fetched for Devil Doll to wriggle their head back out into the modern prog landscape. But until then, this is their current last album, Dies Irae.

Honestly, if this is the cap to the Devil Doll train, I'd say it's a pretty great way to end things off. It does feel like a combination of all previous records, rolled into one complete operatic fashion. You get the more accessible sides of Eliogabalus, the avant-garde concepts rooted in Sacrilegium and The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms, and strong gothic infused progressive rock that started all the way back with The Girl Who Was...Death. Guess this is where Mr. Doctor really put in all the stops for his very unique sound, and I honestly love it. Feels like the peak of the story that Devil Doll woven. Not a literal story, but more like a metaphorical one in terms of musical progression.

However this album does do some pretty interesting things that are away from the rest of the Devil Doll discography. For example, this album isn't a 40+ minute epic!*

*Ok so, that's a lie. While it is true that this album is split into multiple parts acting as separate tracks, it's basically still one big song. Think of it as like Dark Side of the Moon where it's actually just one big epic that just so happens to be split into different tracks. I don't quite know why Devil Doll did this, but it does make for an arguably more accessible experience, while still giving the more older fans something to look forward to.

I think another reason why Dies Irae works really well for me is that the energy feels arguably more lively. There's more of a pronounced rock mood in it. Sure there are still those bits of Devil Doll classical and symphonic elements, but I feel like this has way more of that ROCK in prog rock than any of the previous albums combined, which I do enjoy. Makes this album pretty unique in the grand scheme of things.

I do say though that the far more accessible aspects this album pulls does kinda lose the edge that made Devil Doll so compelling. Sure it still does have that sharp gothic and foreboding nature to it, but it does feel a lot softer, which is a shame. Though I guess it could always be worse, there's probably an alternate dimension where Devil Doll became a jangle pop band if they did continue to make music after this album...dang almost got the shivers thinking that.

But despite the lack of a more clear cut edge, the music still feels very strong and powerful, with moments like Part 4, Part 6, Part 14, Part 16, and Part 18 coming to mind. Funnily enough Part 18 technically is the only track to be over 20 minutes, though that is mostly the signature bouts of silence and a hidden track to accompany it. Realistically though it's just like 2 minutes long. Cannot be a Devil Doll album without a hidden track.

So while it arguably is a bit of a black sheep in comparison to the rest of the Devil Doll scores, Dies Irae is still a really great album that I say serves as a pretty amazing ending to this band's short, but meaningful career. I'd say it's a must listen if you want some strange, yet more readily accessible progressive rock.

Best tracks: Part 2, Part 4, Part 6, Part 14, Part 16, Part 18

Worst tracks: N/A

You know that one meme that's like 'Daniel' and on the right hand side there is the same picture of the guy but he has glasses and it's like 'the cooler Daniel'? Well this is the cooler Daniel equivalent to Sacrilegium.

Every Devil Doll record usually changes things up a lot in the grand scheme of things. The Girl Who Was...Death set the scene for what Devil Doll does with their music, Eliogabalus showcased two sides of what Devil Doll can do, and Sacrilegium put Devil Doll's avant-prog styles front and center with a sprawling 40+ minute epic. The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms is no exception, as even though it's a reworking of Sacrilegium, with parts that are basically pulled from the original album, it still feels like its own thing.

This is the longest Devil Doll track to date (not counting The Girl Who Was...Death's 25 minutes of silence) being over an hour long. Already it certainly does feel like a bit of a daunting task to manage, however Mr. Doctor knows how to make it work. After all, he had made epics equally as long before, right?

Like all Devil Doll works, I think the music here is amazing. I mean, it does have a lot of its moments pulled from Sacrilegium. I could call that lazy because the parts pulled from Sacrilegium are basically the same minus a few production and length differences, but I get it, making a massive epic like that must've taken some time, especially considering a literal war was going on during recording sessions. And really, if it ain't broke, why fix something that's already great?

The parts that were renewed between the previous album and here are just as great as ever for me, in fact maybe even better due to Mr. Doctor seriously lengthening them out. They honestly now feel more complete to me more than anything.

Not only that but the whole concept of the album is now a bit more comprehensible. I mean, sure, it still has that Devil Doll madness, but I feel like I am scratching my head less at this than with the predecessor. Guess it's less weird now, but there can still be some chaos in order, right?

Though, I do think it was a bit of an odd choice to have the later half of the album to basically be Sacrilegium in its entirety again with a few minute differences. I suppose you can only do so much with reworking that suite into an hour long opus before you kind of run out of ways to make it work. Probably the only major downside of this album for me though, cause, even if Sacrilegium is my least favorite from Devil Doll, it's still an amazing record! Devil Doll's worst can be of the same tier as records like Automata II and I Robot for me.

There is also a variety of newer parts. Sure they may not be as plentiful as the reworks, but man are they good! Very rocking, with some signs even showing what Mr. Doctor would be cooking for his final record of Dies Irae. They put on a stronger emphasis on the gothic rock sounds, which I thought was a bit missing from Sacrilegium. This record really does know how to right the wrongs of its former.

Now, which is better, Sacrilegium or The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms? Without a doubt, I think The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms is the better album. It feels more complete, and more like an actual epic similar to Mr. Doctor and The Girl Who Was...Death. It's an hour long song that weaves through familiar grounds, while also adding newer elements in its wake.

However, I do see the side that may prefer Sacrilegium. Again, this album is an hour long song, and even though Sacrilegium is equally lengthy being around 40 minutes, it does seem more easily digestible, especially for more casual prog fans. Plus, I can see people preferring the more chaotic weirdness and mishmashing that suite has, rather than its more structured little twin brother.

But honestly, whether you prefer Sacrilegium or The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms doesn't quite matter to me, because I can see through to anyone's favorite Devil Doll album, because all of their albums are just incredible. With a catalog that's quite small, yet still packs a punch, I wouldn't really argue with anyone no matter what their favorite is. Sure, I'll still have my preferences, but I can most certainly get why one would think The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms or Eliogabalus is the band's best.

With that being said, this is another marvelous work by Mr. Doctor. Seriously, I am impressed he wasn't one of the biggest names in prog rock in the 90s cause his albums are really good. It goes without saying but this is a must listen for me. Give it a listen, it's very great!

Despite Devil Doll having no bad releases, at least for me, there will definitely be a 'least favorite' amongst the masterful discography that Mr. Doctor has accumulated. For me, this least favorite comes in the form of Sacrilegium, their 1992 record. This is easily the weirdest that Devil Doll has ever gotten. While I consider them to have always been an avant-prog band, Sacrilegium is certainly where they pushed the limits through the gothic prog medium that they mastered.

This is where they return back to their single song epic ideals, with a 40+ minute track that weaves through macabre fusions of dark classical and symphonic prog methods. The suite is very abstract, which I think does make the listening experience a tad confusing, especially coming off from more streamlined pieces of The Girl Who Was...Death and Eliogabalus. This is the big reason why I am not quite as into this one as all the other Devil Doll releases, as even though I do appreciate the more artsy direction that Mr. Doctor is going for here, and with pretty great parts throughout, I kind of wished the layout of the album didn't feel like going through a confusing spiral in tone and structure.

But, don't fret, as this album is still immaculate in a lot of ways. Despite the confusion, the music is still genuinely top notch. There are a lot of moments that remind me of Univers Zéro's Hérésie, as well as some pretty big classical scores like Igor Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps, and Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, creating this dynamic mixture of rock in opposition and more classical in grained roots that I really enjoy.

You cannot forget about the gothic rock too. While that element is certainly more toned down in comparison to previous releases, the genre still flourishes quite well in the more guitar driven parts. Sometimes the album reminds me of some of the weirder practices that groups such as Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and The Cure have practiced, making for quite the detailed experience.

Also, with this being more of a direct rock opera, about a man recounting his rather miserable life in his own coffin, I can talk about how amazing Mr. Doctor is as a voice actor. He most certainly can really make his voice sound like completely different people to the point where sometimes I wonder if he had hired some people for certain characters on this album. He knows how to really explore dread between multiple different persons with his voice alone. It's like hearing interviews between different people based on their experience with death, but sung over by Mr. Doctor himself, doing his impression on them.

While Sacrilegium may not be my all time favorite record that Devil Doll produced, the fact that even my least favorite is still of this high quality proves a lot to the beauty that Mr. Doctor can craft not only for himself, but for his listeners. Another high recommendation from me in this band's catalog. Again, I think this band has NO bad releases.

At the beginning of this year I reviewed The Girl Who Was?Death by Devil Doll, which I believed to be a masterpiece. I made it a point for myself to also review all of his other works too, and as such I am finally doing so, at least somewhat spontaneously.

October is a pretty great month to listen to more spookier albums, and Devil Doll evidently brings in that spooky atmosphere in a very macabre manner with their albums. None of their albums are all happy, sunshine and rainbows, which is perfect for me because sometimes I crave that gloom and fear! The Girl Who Was?Death gave me that gloom in spades, and Eliogabalus does a good job at continuing it, whilst also trying its own thing here and there.

I say each Devil Doll record has something unique about them, and with there being five of them, it does allow for a lot of room to see which one you much prefer, which is a big benefit for the group, and too Mr. Doctor's work ethic. If you ask me, I'd say Eliogabalus is the Devil Doll album that is meant to be their "accessible" record, you know the one that is recommended for newcomers. This is mostly because of the fact the record features TWO songs, the most in any Devil Doll record! (No Dies Irae doesn't count. It is just split into parts. It is still one long song).

Obviously the term "accessible" is kind of weak in terms of Devil Doll's music, but I do think the term does have merit, especially since this is the first record where the band would abandon the more heavy metal sounds, and become more into a gothic plus heavy progressive rock sound. While I do think the metal aspects are certainly to be missed, Eliogabalus does a great way at expanding the more rock aspects that Devil Doll can promote.

Mr. Doctor, as an epic that shows off what the band can do in a rock context, is absolutely incredible! It continues the creepy streak that A Girl Who Was?Death started nearly flawlessly, with some of the best music and tunes I think you can find in progressive rock, especially for the early 90s. The section in the middle of the track that goes from a musical box sounding melody, to a more rocking track with a chorus is honestly my all time favorite moment from any Devil Doll number, right next to part 6 of Dies Irae. It may just be one part of a big whole, but I just absolutely adore it, especially with how it ends and turns into a very string heavy fade out! It is evidently my favorite track on the whole album, and probably one of my favorite Devil Doll tracks ever, probably right behind The Girl Who Was?Death.

However, sadly this is the start where Devil Doll wouldn't make such profound masterpieces like The Girl Who Was? Death, though they still would get close to the mark. For Eliogabalus, I'd say the title track does, in a way, bump this record down a peg for me. While I still really do enjoy the track, the title epic here feels sort of incomplete for me. It feels almost as if it was made for something way bigger, but was kind of shafted to the side in favor of making an album with more than just one track. There is still a lot to love about the track though, like how moody it can really get with the piano sections, and the more operatic complexities. In a way this kind of sound would be continued forward with Sacrilegium, since it is distinctly more Avant Garde than songs that came before, which is quite the plus since Sacrilegium is also another stellar album. However, I still feel that Eliogabalus, as a track, weakens a bit by the end, making me wish it was extended into something greater, just so I can really see this album as a masterpiece that Mr. Doctor shows that it can be.

Still, this is very high 4.5 for me, and I think it is an album any fan of gothic rock and prog rock should listen to! It is a very good intro into the world of Devil Doll, and the two sides does give a little leeway into his other albums. Do you like Mr. Doctor? Then check out The Girl Who Was?Death and Dies Irae! Do you prefer Eliogabalus? Then go on and listen to Sacrilegium and The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms! Either way, from this album you're definitely going to be getting into some stellar music!

Best track: Mr. Doctor

Worst track: N/A

When thinking of one of the most eccentric frontmen in the entire history of rock music, your mind may gravitate towards Alice Cooper or Arthur Brown for their over-the-top stage performances and shock value horror rock appearances. Or perhaps the unhinged insane asylum escape antics of Jim Morrison or GG Allin. The freakishly outsider ethos of Tom Waits or Frank Zappa even? Well, the award may very go to one of the lesser known enigmas to haunt the progressive rock underground, namely Mr Doctor who bedazzled the world with his Italian-Slovenian band DEVIL DOLL. Enigmatic and mysteriously anonymous for decades, Mr Doctor only publicly revealed his legal name as Mario Panciera in 2008. With a penchant for the controversial and excessively theatrical, Mr Doctor's eccentric behaviors included recording a debut album titled "Mark Of The Beast" in 1987 and only pressing a single copy retained by the good Dr himself which has remained utterly out of reach of his cult-based fanbase ever since.

Named after the 1964 British horror film, Mr Doctor delivered a musical experience every bit as frightening and strangely demented. Add to his unorthodox ways, the good Doctor started two totally different versions of DEVIL DOLL, one based in Venice, Italy and the other in Ljubljana, Slovenia (then Yugoslavia) however after Slovenia was invaded in 1991 the two bands were merged. And that's not even getting to the music itself which featured Mr Doctor's wildly articulated experimental vocal style accompanied by a strange mix of symphonic prog, modern classical, folk music, gothic rock, dark cabaret, neoclassical darkwave, heavy metal and a theatrical operatic delivery system more akin to Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom Of The Opera" than anything out of the rock paradigm playbook. With an abundance of instrumentation, the effect is bold, pompous and filled to the brim with sounds from guitars, keyboards, violins, bass guitar, drums and even a harp and tuba.

The band DEVIL DOLL released five of its albums from 1989 to 1996 however it has been claimed that many more were recorded and never intended for release thus adding an extra layer of bizarre eccentricity to the mix. With albums that primarily feature album long tracks that take wild rides through various musical genres, DEVIL DOLL emerged as and remains one of the most unique musical forces ever to exist. The first album available to the public, DEVIL DOLL's debut album, THE GIRL WHO WAS? DEATH itself found an unusual way of being released. Originally pressed into 500 copies, only 150 were handed out during a live performances and then afterwards the remaining 350 LPs were set aflame. Now how's that for erratic, eccentric and perhaps even a tidbit wildly acentric?

With a musical theme based on the television series "The Prisoner," THE GIRL WHO WAS? DEATH traversed through an ever-changing musical rotisseries of varying themes and melodies with captivating metaphorical lyrics and of course Mr Doctor's erratic and oft jarring vocal performances. While the running time displays 66 minutes and 6 seconds, the sole title track is in reality closer to 39 minutes followed by 25 1/2 minutes of silence and then as a hidden closing surprise, a sampling and reinterpretation of the theme song from "The Prisoner" TV series. The title track opens with a dark gloomy piano run and spectral vocalizations from The Devil Chorus and then goes full on dramatic. Histrionic build ups and militant percussive drive revs up the tension with a thundering crescendo of an introduction before Mr Doctor begins his draconian vocal gymnastics that admittedly are an acquired taste.

Sounding something like a mix of King Diamond and Current 93's David Tibet, Mr Doctor's vocals are unlike any other and unfortunately a roadblock for many to delve into the world of DEVIL DOLL. Musically the album features alternating mood swings that engage in accompanied piano rolls to fully fueled heavy metal bombast. The most metal leaning of the DEVIL DOLL canon, THE GIRL WHO WAS? DEATH is the loudest, heaviest and delivers the greatest contrasts but even during the metal madness moments Mr Doctor delivers bizarrely processed vocal contributions which is exactly what you would not expect. Lush orchestrations contrast greatly with prog and metal moments and church organs with creepy liturgic harmonies courtesy of the Devil Choir burst in unexpectedly. Violins come and go and well the only thing to expect here is the unexpected.

DEVIL DOLL delivered some of the most demanding genre-bending works of the late 80s and 90s and even at this stage in 2024 remains utterly unique, unapologetically idiosyncratic and timeless in its unorthodox approach to just about everything it unleashes. Despite all these wild rides into the unknown though, the music is melodically accessible and logically composed. Like a classic opera of the ages, Mr Doctor wove a tapestry of intricately designed cadences and motifs fortified by an arsenal of instrumentation and legion of musicians and vocalists to support an overarching theme. While the proclivities to take everything into the world of extremities is rampant from beginning to end, the music is composed in a traditional classical manor while the time signatures and hairpin turns and musical curveballs are more out of the progressive rock paradigm.

No doubt about it. Mr Doctor really is one of the most oddball eccentricities of the rock universe and only a single exposure to any DEVIL DOLL album will easily convince you of that argument. I've been a fan of this bizarre musical act after i picked up "Sacrilegium" some years back but all five of the albums are of the finest quality with this debut being no exception. Beautifully designed and deliciously even devilishly executed, THE GIRL WHO WAS? DEATH is a top notch release with a feisty spirit that delivers the most far-reaching expressions of the musical universe where a whole cauldron of influences is pieced together in a wild array of eclecticism that comes off as epic, enigmatic and utterly mind blowing. While whacked out of his mind in so many ways, the good Dr is a mad musical genius unlike any other. Sure the 25 1/2 minutes of silence is ridiculous but hardly a blemish on an otherwise perfect album.

There are a few bands that are quite the once in a lifetime experiences. King Crimson are certainly one of them, cementing themselves as true inspirators for music to come after the wave of The Beatles and Rolling Stones came and went. Same with Godspeed You! Black Emperor crafting the standard for post rock with new found ideals for minimalism, drone, and chamber. But some groups are less "once in a lifetime" in the whole sense of being very inspiring, and more just how bizarre, but still weirdly amazing they are, that they manage to become the talk amongst a town of whispers. One such bands of this caliber is the Slovenian--Italian project created via the mysterious Mr. Doctor, Devil Doll.

This band is quite the mystery, being a lot less like a physical showing of a band and more of an idea, but certainly one that you can see to be notable via word of mouth. They are such a mystery that their first album, The Mark of the Beast, which released supposedly in 1988, is basically non-existent as Mr. Doctor never sold more than one copy, and who knows where that single copy even is nowadays. We don't even know if that album ever really exists, we can only really guess via word of mouth. Nevertheless, this band has quite the cult following, and that following could be pointed to their TRUE debut album, The Girl Who Was...Death.

This was the first album I have listened to from Devil Doll, and I gotta say this is an album that holds nothing back to what ideas that Mr. Doctor wants to do. You get a nearly 40 minute track worth of highly invigorating gothic infused progressive rock that one can certainly pin point Anglagard or Discipline from getting their sounds from, as well as slight doses of dark heavy metal, cabaret, and classical. At first, this combination of ways is certainly a little jarring, and took me a bit to get used to on my first listen. However, I found what you get out of this album is all the worthwhile, with scary moments of avant-garde classicalisms that take into Univers Zero, or sometimes even Art Zoyd territories, with a gothic sound that is less like The Cure and more like the sounds coming out of a mortuary, and a whole lot of juicy progressive rock that edges on the soon to be ideals of the more grimey Opeth styled prog metal with the lavishness of the RPI scene. I'd say, with all it does, it works extremely well and creates for an experience of no other.

This record is also just a personal favorite of mine due to how unique it is. Obviously in prog rock we may never get an album like this again, but in Devil Doll's discography I think this one stands above the rest in terms of unlikeness. Certainly there is no bad Devil Doll album, in fact I consider all of them to be top tier, especially with how Mr. Doctor improved and changed up his styles into frontiers like avant-prog, operas, and even a tiny bit of industrial on The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms. But even then, I still think The Girl Who Was...Death just takes the cake, being this mysterious tour de force of music that not only intrigued my senses like a speeding truck, but allow me to see a mix of genres that were so wild put together that they managed to make Mr. Bungle sound almost commercial. No other album managed to make me feel the same feelings this album gave upon my first listens. This record certainly has become a very personal favorite of mine, and I am glad that I gave it a chance.

I don't really have any conflicts with this album, obviously since I think of this as a masterpiece. Though, I certainly do think Mr. Doctor's vocals do take time getting used to, but once you hear his voice it does become a lot better sounding after it comes back from the beginning, and it does quite fit the music he is crafting very nicely, at least I think.

This is an album that is not only a classic in my books, but one that I think any prog rock aficionado should at the very least check out. There are no bad places to check out Devil Doll, as they're an all around quality band, but The Girl Who Was...Death is the one I would suggest starting with. It's worth 100% of your time. Hell, even the hidden track is worth your attention. When a band manages to make even their hidden tracks good, they are certainly one to look into.

Welcome to Sacrilegium, the fourth album of one of the best prog-rock bands of the 90's!

Every Devil Doll is a whole and complete experience by itself. The style of the band was more or less the same throughout its whole career, but that means that every album has thousands of influences, styles and colors very well mixed and intertwined with Mr.Doctor's unique style of singing. Sprechgesang, to be exact.

And Sacrilegium is no exception!

It is another excellent composition by the mastermind Mr. Doctor, who was also in charge of the production of this record full of intricated passages, obscure lyrics, and their typical heavy metal guitars mixed with Gregorian chants, classical music, folk, cabaret, Bernard Herrmann's influenced passages and even tango.

Everything fits in Devil Doll's music and the result is just incredible!

Best Tracks: Sacrilegium has only one long song, just like every Devil Doll album with the exception of Eliogabalus.

Conclusion: the third Devil Doll opus is maybe not so surprising as their debut The Girl who was Death and not so outstandingly good as their last and best album Dies Irae, but it's another excellent record by one of the most unique, personal and unrepeatable prog bands in history.

My rating: ****

Devil Doll was one of those acts I knew of forever, but never bothered with their CDs, because I wasn't sure if I'd like them or not. Well, I'm glad to start diving into this group, better late than never. Dies Irae was the final release from Mr. Doctor and company. Due to anonymity it's hard to tell why they disappeared, but you get the feeling they mined this strange dark gothic prog for what its worth, but at the same time, there isn't a bad release in the bunch. This is truly an acquired taste, you dig what they do, or you don't. This stuff is truly over the top, you can't help but imagine a cobweb-infested old mansion or castle with pipe organ occupied by a vampire, and the music truly captures that imagination. Make no doubt Mr. Doctor was a horror movie aficionado. Passages that go from one thing to the next, from Gregorian chant, sinister violin playing, pipe organ, evil sounding voices from Mr. Doctor, and rocking passages. There's no denying how much Jacula had an impact on Devil Doll. I sense a little Van der Graaf Generator and King Crimson in the process, I guess because Mr. Doctor's voice can resemble a bit of Peter Hammill at time, and funny enough, the evil witch Scotia found on the 1990s PC game Lands of Lore: Throne of Chaos. The music is truly theatrical to the max, so you can imagine them performing this music live with a set that looks like the backlot of a horror movie set. Alice Cooper certainly did his horror rock theater performance, but he did it with a standard hard rock sound, but Devil Doll takes that horror theatrics to the next level with a far less accessible art rock approach. I really think that these guys really gave the sagging prog rock scene a boost, even before Änglagård appeared on the scene. What I really love is this isn't neo-prog at all. The group also tended to avoid synthesizers (although they'd sound great with a Mellotron), keyboards seem confined to piano and pipe organ, but there is no shortage of other instruments. Not an easy listen, this music truly demands your attention, but the payoff is well worth if, if this style appeals to you. If gothic theatrical art work sounds good, give this a try, in fact, give all their albums a try!

In 1989 Mr. Doctor worked simultaneously on three different projects: an esoteric work titled ''The Black holes of my mind'', an adaption on four works of Austrian composer Hanns Eisler under the name ''Mr. Doctor sings Hanns Eisler'' and ''Eliogabalus'', inspired by Antonin Artaud's "Heliogabalus: or, the crowned anarchist".Entering the studio in 1990 he had to face a very limited budget, so his work on Eisler's compositions was abandoned and the other two works were combined in a single album release, ''Eliogabalus''.The album features Roberto Dani as a newcomer on guitar and also fresh drummer Rick Bosco.It was reputedly pressed in three editions, two vinyl pressings, one of which was a limited one of 50 copies, and a CD one.

The 20-min. ''Mr. Doctor'' was the composition intended to become the centerpiece of ''The Black holes of my mind''.Propably this is a cut-out version, which sounds a bit different from what Devil Doll has presented so far.The gothic and heavy elements are somewhat reduced for a more symphonic-oriented sound, which still contains Mr. Doctor's frightening whispers and some bombastic grooves, but it goes mainly in a rather dreamy style with strings, smooth guitars and orchestral keyboards/piano, while the band's leader even sings in a regular style, which reminds me a lot of Alex Caimati from NUOVA ERA.The music is more elaborate and polished with multiple variations between rockin' rhythms, pompous arrangements and spoken parts.The symphonic and operatic elements dominate this composition, which also contains a few excellent female-choir parts.The 25-min. title track does not differ much, even if it was to be originally included in a different work, meaning that Mr. Doctor was stylistically settled around the time.Of course ''Eliogabalus'' has a more varied depth of atmospheres and comes a bit closer to the sound of the previous album.The mood is quite dark and sinister with absence of ethereal themes, although there are even some minimalistic moments throughout.This comes as a mixture of Avant-Garde/Classical influences with full-blown Symphonic Rock, again the great string section and the beautiful guitar melodies prevail along with the soft piano parts and Mr. Doctor's ability to switch characters with his voice.Elements from Horror Film Scores and Ambient Music can also be tasted, ''Eliogabalus'' ends up to be a composition with some majestic moments but also lack of consistency.

While the second work of Devil Doll has much in common with the debut of the ensemble, you should rather imagine a less bombastic and more refined version of ''The girl who was... death'' to meet exactly your expectations.Symphonic Opera with elements from Avant-Garde and Minimalism, not fully convincing, but certainly pretty atmospheric and well-composed.Recommended.

'The Girl Who Was... Death' - Devil Doll (91/100)

There is so much mystery surrounding Devil Doll that speculative essays could be written on this music's context alone. For how little we really know about 'Mr. Doctor' and his enigmatic history, there are so many clues in his work, however possibly misleading, that give some impression as to the man's character. I first became fascinated in the work of Devil Doll some years ago, and since then, appreciation nor wonder have not abated. The extent to which Devil Doll have maintained this enigma would almost have me wondering whether the whole thing was really an elaborate hoax, but The Girl Who Was... Death stands as the evident work of some manner of genius. Although Mr. Doctor wears his influences (both musical and otherwise) most often on his sleeve, the result is something unique and inimitable. Regardless of your previous experience with goth or progressive rock, metal or even neoclassical music, Devil Doll makes for a stark and challenging experience; prospective listeners have been warned, but those that dare venture forth may find themselves captivated forever.

Considering the established style Devil Doll espouse here, it's easy to forget that The Girl Who Was... Death is the defacto debut from a then-relatively new band; a 1987 LP The Mark of the Beast apparently existed before this but, in true Devil Doll fashion, its mere existence has been under dispute. It's rare to hear of a band debuting with a strong sense of identity, and rarer still to hear a band with an identity all to themselves. In the case of Devil Doll, the odd mesh of Romantic minimalism, gothic post-punk and off-kilter sprechgesang sounds alien upon first listen, but I posit that Devil Doll as a stylistic construct would appear completely natural in the light of his influences. Many of these influences are no doubt as esoteric as Mr. Doctor himself; others are more apparent. Among the latter, classic horror cinema is at the top of the list. The album cover features actress Elsa Lancaster (in The Bride of Frakenstein) in the final moments before her character's death. Long stretches of minimalism led by the piano and eerie strings lend a sense to the archetypal silent horror film score, not to mention the expressionistic lyrics, which divulge a sense of being stalked and chased by an unknowable entity. The excellent TV series The Prisoner (itself enjoying an enigmatic context of no small obsession) is also evoked, through the title, lyrical excerpts (tying into the album's thematic sense of solipsism and the lonesome individual), not to mention a rock rendition of The Prisoner's theme, hidden at the end. Though their aesthetics and chosen mediums are different, I'm sure The Prisoner's creator Patrick McGoohan would at least look upon Mr. Doctor's work with a sense of intellectual respect, if not an appreciation for the music itself.

While the work of an auteur may be seen as a compilation of his influences, it's the resulting product and identity that truly matters, and in the case of The Girl Who Was... Death, the effect is overwhelming. While the style of Devil Doll would be predominantly neoclassical through their five album stretch, The Girl Who Was... Death opens the saga with a more clearcut balance between string orchestrations and rock. The two halves are also more segregated here than they would be on later bouts. Set as a single forty minute composition (the rest of the stated album length is silence, in keeping with the hidden Prisoner theme at the end) the suite jumps between periods of slow, minimal piano, theatrical metal and avant-garde orchestrations. Although the long-drawn piano passages are atmospheric, they're remarkably understated in contrast with the excitement of the heavier parts. The album takes almost ten minutes to 'get going' and shed light on its rockier elements, so listeners with an impatient ear will likely find themselves scratching their heads. Among the musical highlights are a gypsy fiddle solo, a beautiful, longing violin build, carnivalesque fanfare halfway into the work, and a jarring instrumental section towards the latter half, complete with disjointed piano and chilling violin screech, a la Psycho. While the long periods of relative inactivity in the music give the exciting moments greater impact, the effect of its trying minimalism begin to wear off by the time the album is close to finishing. A masterpiece it may be, but The Girl Who Was... Death still offered room for its successors to improve. If Devil Doll's jaw-dropping Dies Irae from 1996 is any indication, at some point those small spaces were filled in.

No discussion of Devil Doll's music would be complete without a regard for Mr. Doctor's vocals themselves. I have saved talking about them for the end of the review precisely because they are the most challenging, puzzling, and altogether compelling part of Devil Doll's music. I am not sure who gave him the nickname 'The Man of a Thousand Voices', but the name is given weight through his performance here. Devil Doll's frightening frontman is a vocalist in the truest sense of the world; his delivery here is less singing by the traditional definition, and moreso incredibly intricate and theatrical speech, with the occasional melodic (or, I daresay, operatic) ingredient. Mr. Doctor's sprechgesang, to put it simply, is weird and scary, and evocative to an almost overwhelming level. It's the sort of strange voice I can only imagine spoken by Peter Lorre, had he actually become a creature from a German Expressionist horror film. For a musical comparison, think Current 93's David Tibet, if he had been somehow forced to stay awake for a month (possibly by the Lorremonster?) watching nothing but Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. It's jarring and bound to be a complete turn off to some listeners, but for those who know, it works.

The Girl Who Was... Death is frightening fare, regardless which genre you try to (hopelessly) place it in. Even so, there is a deliberate method to this so-called insanity; behind the maddening screams and gothic bombast, there is the truly uncompromising mark of an auteur here, who let nothing hinder his vision. Particularly in a rock or metal-related work, that sort of purity is hard to come by. The Girl Who Was... Death is one of the best and weirdest albums I have ever heard, and even then it's not the best thing Devil Doll would create. What then can I call it, save for the work of a bona fide genius?

Originally written for Heathen Harvest Periodical