DEMON & ELEVEN CHILDREN ~ DEMONIC FASCINATION ..... review

Those of you out there with a love of obscure 70's heavy rock and psych might remember an album, from a Japanese band going by the name of Blues Creation, called "Demon & Eleven Children". it is probably unlikely that many will remember the album as in truth the term "obscure" often translates to "heard by very few". However we at Desert Psychlist were/are familiar with the release and so when in May of last year (2023) we saw a demo released on Bandcamp by a Chinese band bearing that albums name, our interest was peaked. The demo, simply titled "Demon Demo", contained three songs of heavy'n'slow proto flavoured doom drenched in acidic guitar and fronted by female vocals that had an endearing remote ethereal quality. Being a demo EP the quality of the release was not exactly the best but despite its short fallings what we heard was a band full of untapped potential. Skip a year and while once again perusing the new releases on Bandcamp we noticed that Demon & Eleven Children had released a full album on the SloomWoop Productions label, and it is this album, "Demonic Fascination", why we are here today.

Opening number "The Shiver of the Vampires (Hail Jean Rollin)" begins with all the usual doomic cliches, tolling bells and creepy noises, then kicks into a throbbing dank groove that sways between mid tempo and low'n'slow, pretty standard doom fare we hear you say and it would be if it were not for the songs underlining rawness and its uniquely pitched but effective female vocals. For next song "Vertigo" those vocals take on a more nursery rhyme-ish quality and are backed by a much more intense wall of doom type dynamic, thundering drums and basement level bass lines framing lyrics that tell of "being born to suffer" and having "nowhere to hide" while the guitarist lays down riffs that thrums like an overdriven electricity cable. Title track "Demonic Fascination" follows and sees the band adding a little lysergic trippiness to their repertoire, the song boasting a Sabbathian mid-section sandwiched between two slices of swirling and atmospheric acidic doom, those two slices enhanced by scorching guitar work and vocals that boast a lilting ethereal quality. A little Italian style scuzziness creeps into next song "Stabbed By Illusion", the vocals slipping so far down in the mix that they become almost inaudible and everything else getting turned up to eleven it does however boast a peach of a guitar solo that cuts through the down tuned miasma like a hot knife through butter. We get a curved ball thrown our way next with the brief down home and bluesy "Pot Girl Blues" but are soon back on track with the proto-doomic "Don't Bury My Coffin Until You High" a proto flavoured doom/occult rocker anchored by busy drums and grizzled bass over which another lilting and ethereal vocal is delivered supported by a searing array of doomic and bluesy solos. Last tune "Drown In Hell" sees the band putting all their doom eggs in one basket for a song that on its journey touches base with every form of doom, bar the genres extremities, a  raw uncompromising and gloriously noisy finale to an unexpectedly impressive album.

Demon & Eleven Children may have "borrowed" their name from a cult 70's Japanese album and they may have taken some of their inspiration from the band that made that album but what they have delivered with "Demonic Fascination" is all them, a raw edged take on doom that may not be wholly original but is nevertheless highly enjoyable.

Check 'em out ....

© 2024 Frazer Jones