Sarah Jezebel Deva - Malediction
Malediction
CD Info
2012
Digital Release Only
3 Tracks
English Lyrics
I am a huge Sarah Jezebel Deva fangirl. I have a lot of admiration and respect for her work, and I particularly love the lyrics she's written. Her album with Angtoria, God Has a Plan For Us All, contained some lyrics that really resonated with me. If Alanis Morrisette was the voice of my twenties (and in this case I mean voice in the sense of what is expressed through lyrics) then Sarah Jezebel Deva (SJD) is the voice of my...er...later-ish thirties.
Malediction, a word meaning, according to the Oxford dictionary, "a curse" or "the utterance of a curse" is SJD's latest release, available in digital format only, and comes about a year after the band's previous CD, The Corruption of Mercy. "Malediction" is an appropriate title for this three-track EP, since it contains songs that explore the more sinister side of the aftermath of bad relationships, the secrets that come back to haunt us, the deceptions we participated in but are now coming back to bite us in the ass, and in the case of the song "This Is My Curse", a situation in which someone is haunted by, or "cursed" with experiencing horrific images of humans' gross mistreatment of other humans.
Appropriately, Dani Filth, notably of Cradle of Filth, the band SJD used to sing with, provides guest vocals on "This Is My Curse", giving the song a suitably creepy atmosphere. Pure and simple, he sounds quite devil-like in his performance and it is quite chilling.
Musically, the three songs contained on the EP are excellent, following in the kick-ass, bombastic footsteps of The Corruption of Mercy. Aggressive and dark, there is lots of double bass work, lots of fast, headbang-inducing passages, catchy keyboard melodies, and some symphonic elements to top things off. The highlight is, as usual, though, Sarah's voice, which is as smooth and rich as a lovely honey, soaring above the instruments, inducing a good kind of chill – you know the goose bumpy type you get when something really delights you.
The first song, "Lies Define Us" also has a guest vocalist, namely Bjorn Strid of Soilwork. As the EP's opener, it gets off to a fast-paced start and then eases into a menacing story complete with Machievalian elements and threats of karmic retribution.
Continuing with the ominous theme is track two, the aforementioned "This is My Curse". It opens with a big growl courtesy Dani Filth, and pounds its way into a spoken section where Filth sneers,
Languishing this night
In a scene of horror
There's a fear that weights on my heart
That tomorrow never comes
Where the sun touched the bars with the promise of release
Lights catch the filth, the blood, the screams
Of the thousands who suffer as one
This song is definitely the highlight of the EP for me, just because of it's over-the-top, menacing atmosphere.
"When it Catches Up With You" is the finale, a bitter tale of the bad ending of a bad relationship, is also a solid song with a catchy melody and some great riffing.
There really weren't any weak moments on this EP, in fact. It's typically more difficult for me to write reviews of a three-track EP because you only have three songs to work with, but if you're a fan of SJD's work, her voice, and her lyrics, this is a work definitely worth acquiring. I just don't understand what the cover art is depicting...It looks to me like a cow hide, and I'm not getting that at all.
9.5 / 10
