Full of vibrant melodies and twilit atmospheres amid raucous nü-metal cacophonies, Deadstar Assembly’s return after five years sounds to be well worth the wait.
Southern Florida’s Deadstar Assembly is a band that knows how to take its time, usually taking no less than a few years between releases. Blame It on the Devil follows five years after 2010’s Coat of Arms, showcasing the band’s signature blend of gothic atmosphere, pummeling heavy metal, and seething electronics, with no small helping of melodic vocals amid the rage to create a sound that places the band in a class all its own. Though there may be little to distinguish this album from the band’s past outings, there is much to be said for having a solidified sense of musical identity, which absolutely shines through on Blame It on the Devil.
From the first guttural bellows of scathing vocals amid a procession of marching beats and thunderous, strangely bluesy guitars accented by a screeching synth refrain on the opening title track, traces of MINISTRY and Marilyn Manson can be heard with each iteration of “Blame it on me, blame it on you, blame it on everything that you’ve been through. Repent, rebel, blame it on the devil!” However, once “Overdose” kicks into high gear, a highly energetic and melodic anthem that thematically (and lyrically) recalls “Killing Myself Again” from 2006’s Unsaved, there is no denying that this is Deadstar Assembly doing what it does best.
