RIKETS
Anything for the Devil EP
Corporate Punishment Records 2005
www.rikets.com

Sample it here

What’s the 4-1-1?
Bent music from 7 guys from Ohio, featuring members of Switched, Erase the Grey, and the Genitortures.

Genre
Heavy metal / black metal / industrial / death metal

The Good
You can tell just from the album cover and title what you’re in for here. Industrial effects are demolished by crushing riffs during the opening of “Useless”. Vocalist Scott Rose walks the fine line between manic screamer and tortured vocalist. Despite the fury and anger, the chorus comes off with shades of melody. Rose switches from creepy to furious with his vocal work on “Hollywood”. He’s backed up by a wall of distortion as he describes how fake Hollywood truly is. I was quick to dismiss “Blister” as an all out scream fest, but it’s more of a multifaceted vocal arrangement. One again the rhythm section leaves you ears ringing. Chunky riffs and evil snarls give way to somber tones, and vice versa on “Bitter Words”. The EPs title track may just be the rally cry theme song of the Dark Lord.

The Bad
Nothing notable

The Verdict
This isn’t usually the kind of music that I enjoy, but this album somehow drew me in. It’s everything you expect from the industrial/black metal genre (The group even looks the part). The Anything for the Devil EP is chock full of catchy, devastating riffs and hardcore, angry vocals that have just the right amount of melody. Get your gauze pads ready, because the blood from your ears will be coming early.

Did You Know?
The actual affliction of rickets is: A deficiency disease resulting from a lack of vitamin D or calcium and from insufficient exposure to sunlight, characterized by defective bone growth and occurring chiefly in children.

Rating: out of 5

--George Dionne