Devil Moon Risen is an Arizona based band with a very unique sound. They formed in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic and dropped an EP. Their brand of high energy and catchy music combines punk, desert rock, and stoner doom into a truly dynamic sound that blazes from start to finish! Oh and they also include sludge and old school heavy metal into the mix! “Fissure of Men,” is their debut full-length album…and it is a massive achievement!
The band is a three piece but they sound even bigger. Chihuahua Chad (I hope that is his real name) plays bass guitar, upright bass, and vocals. His bass is a huge component to the album, if not the main one. He is absolutely pulsating, steering the direction of the band even while he compliments the other two member’s own styles. His vocals are extremely varied, everything from cleans and screams.
Guitarist Rocky Destructo (awesome) has just a big of a job though as the album’s only guitarist. The song always contain a lot of riffs, in addition to other aspects the string wizard provides. This dude can really and truly play anything and offers a dazzling display of influences and styles.
I’m sure you’ve heard of being caught between a rock and a hard place? Drummer/keyboardist Everett Jones is the rock AND the hard place. He provides the hardest foundation possible—he has to, to be able to keep these crazy songs from collapsing under their own weight. His style is just as dynamic as everyone else's and he gives one hell of a performance.
The album’s 9 song, 36 minute runtime is just the right length, perfect for the band to burn through their rather amorphous style. It is truly impressive how they combine these different genres togethers while still keeping the experience smooth and cohesive. The songs can be chilled and laid back one minute then the next heavy as hell. Do you want to crack open a beer on the beach and listen to this? Or is the soundtrack to street fighting? Why not both!
There isn’t a stone left unturned and every second is used to fill up the atmosphere. There is always something going on…a heavy bass drop, clean guitar note, searing riff, hazy vocals, a scream…their sound doesn’t rest for a second and on constant rotation to display what they are capable of delivering.
The production/mix is stellar–every instrument can be heard, each note as its place among the others, and it sounds like a dream even while capturing their often heavy and abrasive style.
The opening song, “Bad Sketch of a Killer,” kicks off the album with heavy riffs, sterling drumming, and bass that could break the world. It’s bouncy, energetic…already the band is mixing their styles before the album even passes the one minute mark. The clean, filtered vocals go along well with the guitar as it transitions to clean instrumentation. The middle portion of the song is balls out metal, groovy bass intertwined with riffs and drums that often take that groove and add in sudden bursts of speed.
“The Rim,” ramps up the intensity from the get-go with bass and drums just straight tearing shit up. How about those screams around the 1:35 mark? Excellent! The vocals have a punk cadence to them, a certain in your face attitude that is captured well. The guitar solo is slick as hell—fun but impressive, especially how the rest of the song seems to warp around it. The last 17 seconds of the song are intense, the drums driving it home like a beast.
“Mungo Gringo,” is a weird, short but sweet song that burns bright at just over two minutes in length. It’s very much a wild punk song that is basically a two minute long atom bomb explosion. But the band still finds the time to throw in some surprises, such as the sudden clean part at the halfway mark and the metal riffs that follow.
I don’t know who “Shaun Powell,” is but he must be awesome (or a total asshole) for inspiring this kick ass song. This is another short banger, under three minutes but squeezes in so much. The groove of the cymbals is infectious, as are the backing gang vocals. The main guitar riff is monstrous and the song gets planet heavy in the last thirty seconds or so.
“D.T.T.B.O.W.T.B” is a fine way to the end the album. It song is stoner doom but glued together by bouts of ragefully punk rock until the end when it turns into something much more closer to extreme metal, complete with hammering riffs and deadly screams.
Is punk infused stoner doom (or stoner doom infused punk? or sludge doom stoner punk? or punked up sludge doom? WHAT IS THIS?) your thing? Maybe, maybe not. But I went into this album blind and came out with my eyes open. No matter what you’re into it, give Devil Moon Risen’s “Fissures of Men,” a chance because I can’t think of any reason you wouldn’t be blown away. Unless you’re lame.
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