Device—Lost My Soul (Single)
“Lost My Soul” is salvo number two from Vancouver, Canada quartet Device, who released their debut song, “Enemy Blood”, on Bandcamp back in June. I threw in a disclaimer when reviewing their debut because my Hellbound.ca colleague Kyle Harcott lurks behind Device’s drum kit. Once again, you can forget any favoritism on my part, because “Lost My Soul” requires no embellishments from me to secure its kick-ass wailing metal credentials.
Device play old school jams; blazing metal glorifications that exude grease and sweat, and emit the vintage vapors of NWOBHM and timeless ’80s metal. Last time round, on “Enemy Blood”, things got awfully, well, bloodthirsty—with a berserker raid of swinging axes and skull-shattering good times. On “Lost My Soul”, I’m picturing more of an even-sided gladiatorial battle: Judas Priest and Iron Maiden holding onto tridents, Accept and Exciter brandishing the short swords, and Motörhead arriving to teach them a harsh lesson in how to wield the weaponry.
Opening with deliciously dirty and propulsive riffing courtesy Lloyd Agar and Dennis Marinos, the guitarists sprint up the frets and drop in the chunky split-knuckle riffs (along with a great Middle Eastern-textured solo late in the tune, just to add a dose of far-flung mysticism). Harcott pounds those skins, burly is as burly does, releasing a hefty cannonade of percussive flourishes. Although vocalist and bassist Marc LeBlanc once again ascends to the howling Halford plateaus, he also spends more time at street-level—focusing on that gritty tenor and ragged NWOBHM charm we all so love.
Device are classic metal writ large; they celebrate all that is grand about the genre, from the bombastic and acidulous to the pugnacious and insalubrious. Mean and hulking, “Lost My Soul” is another great track from Device, and at almost double the running time of “Enemy Blood”, there’s twice as much savagery to revel in.
