review by daniel

Devil Doll’s second release was basically two pieces, “Mr. Doctor” and “Eliogabalus”, that for some (financial?) reason were edited down to fit a single LP. This time (as well as on future releases) the main influence seems to be classic horror movies from the silent era (“Nosferatu”, “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari” and the like). The music is somewhat darker than on the previous effort and Mr. Doctor has also started to include some weird elements such as (Slavonic?) folk music played on accordion, music boxes and carnival-like passages. This adds to the demented nature of the music.

For those who can imagine themselves liking dark and demented rock music with strong classical influences, but not a vocalist that sounds like a cross between Peter Hammill and Gollum, this might be the Devil Doll album to get. Mr. Doctor hisses more than he sings but he has not yet taken it to the very extreme (that would be the Peter Hammill and Gollum thing). On “Sacrilege of Fatal Arms” and “Dies Irae” he adds even more schizophrenia to his theatrical vocal delivery, so it might be easier to start with this one. And if you like it you are in for a real treat because the next two albums are even better.