CD REVIEW
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7 February 2012
Cinematic Slides From
Devil Box
Devil Box hail from Turku, Finland and play
instrumental, occasionally experimental
music – by their own admission influenced
by “blues, folk, and country music from all
around the world“ and “operating in the
musical no man’s land between the different
genres.“
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What does that mean? For one thing, you won’t have the chance to get bored:
no two tunes on the band’s “The Thing at the End“ album sound alike and the
whole 6-track affair clocks in at just under 30 minutes. On the other hand, you
get titles such as “El Diablo“ and “Funeral Boogie“... Yet, the macabre airs never
push Devil Box quite into Black Sabbath territory – instead, “The Thing at the End
“ takes the raw guitar-led approach of the duo’s “Live At Kioski, Turku“ EP (2011)
and uses modern recording technologies to successfully elaborate the
soundscapes.
Kicking off with just piano and bass drum, the album comes across as very
cinematic throughout, with the more aggressive moments recalling the melodic (!)
side of Link Wray and the quieter bits inevitably bringing to mind Ry Cooder’s
“Paris, Texas“. There are no wiggly-wiggly guitar solos here, each note is firmly in
service of the mood, and the arrangements are beautifully crafted. Apart from an
ill-advised drum sample on the last track, the choice of sounds works very well,
too.
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The connection with the “Live At Kioski“ EP is highlighted by the inclusion of
“Northern Ghost Bat pt. II“ and “Cyanide Process pt. II“, the first sections of both
having appeared on that CD. Recorded at “different wooden houses“ in Turku,
Tampere, Salo and Kemiönsaari, “The Thing at the End“ features the same band
– Antti Alanko on slide guitar, percussion and keys and Ville Pirinen on guitar –
but the impression they choose to make here is broader, lighter and decidedly
more contemporary.
Whether it will go down well with the fans of any particular roots music sub-
genre is anyone’s guess and probably the last thing on the band’s collective
mind. Devil Box music may prove to be too pretty and slow for some alt.blues
fans and too modern and electric for certain traditionalists, but it’s definitely new,
original, and well worth checking out!
ANDRES ROOTS
Devil Box: The Thing at the End. Kääntö Records, 2012
Antti Alanko (slide guitars, piano, organ, percussion, programming), Ville Pirinen
(guitar)
Produced by Antti Alanko
Links: Devil Box on Facebook SoundCloud YouTube, Kääntö Records
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