Reviews: The Devil's Trade, Ashley Sherlock, Degreed, James Robledo (Reviews By Rich Piva & Matt Bladen)

The Devil’s Trade - Videkek Vannak Idebenn (Season Of Mist) [Rich Piva]

The Devil’s Trade is a one-man dark folk/ambient spooky project from Hungarian artist David Mako and Videkek Vannak Idebenn is his fourth album under this moniker. This is some heady stuff, sung mostly in Hungarian and reminds me if the Cocteau Twins spent a couple of years in a dark forest listening to metal, worshiping the dark lord, and replaced their singers with a dude with a gigantic voice.

For the most part I have no idea what he is singing about, but the vibes musically are enough alone to know this is some dark and heavy stuff. Flashing Through The Lack Of Light is my favorite track, and by title alone you have an idea of what you are getting here. The title track has a dark folk but almost Middle Eastern vibe to it, and when it kicks in look out. This record is heavy, but not in the metal sense, more in the overall atmosphere that is generated from these eight tracks, and those vocals. Clear Like The Wind is some serious spooky folk music, while Liminal flirts with later period Paradise Lost, but with obviously different vocal stylings. 

In the right mood and frame of mind, Videkek Vannak Idebenn is going to scratch that dark folk itch for people. It is a bit long, and it not the easiest listen, but if you dig this kind of vibe and are looking for a way to pair your despair musically, check out the new one from The Devil’s Trade. 7/10

Ashley Sherlock - Just A Name (Ruf Records) [Rich Piva]

Ashley Sherlock and his band play a more straight-ahead roots rock, than say blues or hard rock, more John Mayer than Stevie Ray Vaughn. Now I threw a couple of talent dudes in that sentence, and Sherlock can play for sure, but while there is a lot of good on Just A Name, there is something missing for me as well.

The opener, Trouble, is his finest moment on Just A Name, hitting on that blues tag as well as highlighting his excellent guitar work and vocals that fit great for what he is putting out there. The problem is after Trouble there is not a lot that stuck with me.  Most of Just A Name is overproduced which is a major issue for me, and the songs were just not that memorable, and not the bluesy which is a let down when you are going in thinking you are about to sit down at a bar in Nashville and see some dude play slide with a beer bottle for two hours straight. 

This may be my fault going in with those expectations. I will say that Sherlock sounds more like he is from Nashville than from his native UK. Take the track Empty Street. It is more Americana than blues, but I get what he was going for here.  For my tastes, I would love to see Sherlock let lose and get down and dirty, because you can hear he has it in him to just go off, but he seems way too reserved with his song writing, playing and production to really understand what he can do.

I can’t help but wonder what Ashley Sherlock could do if he took the guardrails off.  I see what he was going for here, but Just A Name, for me, is too produced and too neutered to have any impact.  His skill is evident, but let’s do a full album of songs like Trouble and see what it gets him. For now, this one is a pass for my tastes. 5/10

Degreed – Public Address (Frontiers Music Srl) [Matt Bladen]

Hear that? The buzzing pressing of keys, the clean rock guitars, drums that are there to get your fist pumping, American as Apple Pie isn’t it? No, wrong, if it was from the last 20 years or so it’s probably Swedish (also Apple Pie is probably German). 

The Swedes and the Scandi’s in general have made melodic rock/AOR their thing now since the early 2000’s bands like H.E.A.T, Eclipse et al have been serving up lots of warm melodic rocking that harks back to the 80’s America, with Degreed having been part of this scene since 2005. Since then they have been critically acclaimed, with their blues based but poppy, their slick melodic rocking, exactly what you want, it’s almost modern-retro with influences from the past but brought bang up to date, as their new album shows straight from the off. 

Following their 2022 album Are You Ready, this seventh album has them at their most bombastic but also their most diverse. Are You Ready was a bit darker and simpler with more of focus on rocking but Public Address has them returning to big melodic rock anthems which have been their bread and butter, but obviously using their experience to make them really shine. Big Plans and No One rocks, but This Is Love, Free Again and many others are properly synthtastic, so there’s a balance though the lighter tracks are more numerous. Public Address is a summer album, perfect for long afternoons and at festivals. 7/10

James Robledo – Broken Soul (Frontiers Msuci Srl) [Matt Bladen]

Sinner’s Blood frontman James Robledo, returns to Frontiers with his second solo album, the band comprised of fellow Sinner Nasson (also of Chaos Magic) on guitar, with drummer Jacopo Martignoni and producer/bassist/keyboardist Alessandro Del Vecchio as well. Del Vecchio produces with his big, boisterous style making the songs bounce out of your speakers. 

The compositions are xacross the melodic rock sound with lots of guitar solos and crunchy riffing, but they really aren’t the point. Broken Soul is a way to showcase Robledo’s talent as a singer, his soulful, husky throat up there with the Coverdale/Jorn Lande/Myles Kennedy style of bluesy singers. Having made his name in the Chilean music scene, his first foray into the wider world was with The Voice Chile, before signing with Frontiers as a part of the more metallic Sinner’s Blood. This album brought him new fans and the attention of the world at large, with a couple of features on the many multi singer records the label produces, recently joining all star project Demon’s Down. 

His first solo album Wanted Man had De Vecchio writing songs in a different style to Sinner’s Blood in order to have Robledo’s other talents displayed. Again on Broken Soul, there’s a mixture of styles from the Bon Jovi Western flavour to Fire, the electronics of Over/My Own Hope, the shreddy sound of Dead City Lights or the heaviness (think Alter Bridge) of the title track, each one having Robledo as the star and giving you more evidence that he could be the next big vocalist to come out of this label, like Jorn or Ronnie Romero before him. 8/10