Review: Night Demon "Curse of the Damned"

    Like an unseen killer breaking out of the shadows on a dimly lit street, Night Demon strikes and unleashes their fierce brand of old school heavy metal music. The Ventura, CA based three piece delivers a sound of epic headbanging proportions on their debut full-length album, "Curse of the Damned."
    Ever since the band put out their self-titled four song EP, fans of the classic metal style have been raving about Night Demon. The band puts a refreshing spin on classic NWOBHM and other classic metal music, but finds a way to make their overall sound distinct and unique compared to the other bands who play this style of metal. Bassist and singer Jarvis Leatherby has a great vocal presentation and provides so much raw energy to Night Demon’s sound. Guitarist Brent Woodward lays down some wicked sounding riffs and his solos are always blazing with precision. Drummer Dusty Squires holds down the rhythm section with great force and consistent beats.
    This debut album is full of amazing heavy metal energy from top to bottom and will keep you rocking hard the entire time.  The opening song, “Screams in the Night” explodes with a crushing intro composition. Eventually the band transitions into a catchy verse riff that then makes way for a great chorus. The band’s songwriting formula is flawless and they throw in a variety of creative compositions. Song number two is the title track and starts out with a thunderous bass riff. Talk about cranking up the bass volume! The tone is so loud and abrasive that you can’t possibly ignore it, unless you are completely deaf. 
    Track number three, “Satan,” starts with a slow galloping riff and features some great songwriting dynamics. The drums during the slowed down chorus are very ominous sounding and work well with the bass line. Brent’s guitar shrieks into the musical landscape and tears off into a ripping old school style solo. “Full Speed Ahead” is another ripping track that leaves the head spinning as the musicians lay down the musical attack.
    Song number five, “The Howling Man,” is one of my favorite songs on this album. The arrangements are simply amazing and provide tremendous passion to the overall song. Jarvis adds great emphasis when he sings the lyrics, and the section where the band drastically slows down the song’s tempo sounds extremely haunting. Songs like “Heavy Metal Heat,” “Livin’ Dangerous,” “Mastermind” and “Run for Your Life”, continue the old school sounding metal assault and never become boring or repetitious. The second half of the album is just as strong as the first half and the band’s raw exciting energy never fades.
    The last couple songs on the album are, “Killer” and “Save Me Now.” The song “Killer,” sounds exactly like the title, KILLER! Great riffs the whole way through along with some catchy lyrics that may be on the morbid side for some, but sound as cool as hell to me. Now, the song on this album that took me by surprise and is my favorite song on the album is, “Save Me Now.” This track has great heavy metal passion and is just well written. Probably the best written song I have heard in a while. The guitar riff during the chorus matched with Jarvis’ vocals is simply phenomenal.
    “Curse of the Damned,” is an album with eleven original tracks that do not disappoint. Night Demon delivers consistent well written heavy metal songs that continue to demonstrate why this style of music does not fade. There are many bands who play this style of music, but what makes Night Demon stand out amongst the others is the high level of raw musical energy and strong songwriting abilities. I strongly recommend this album for fans of classic sounding metal and heavy metal in general. I even think fans who are more into hard rock can appreciate and get into Night Demon’s sound. This album will hopefully get more people to check out Night Demon and recognize the hard work that goes into making such kick ass music. So for my final words I leave you with this....Prepare for the Night Demon! \m/

Album Release dates:
January 27th North America
January 19th Europe