Album Details

• Artist: Motordevil
• Album: At The Speed Of Blasphemy
• Label: N/A
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2008-05-07

Disclaimer: Picture in album art space not actual album art; my scanner is on the fritz and I couldn't find it online.

Now, onto Motordevil, a young upstart hard rock/metal outfit from my homestate of New York. Motordevil is two people; Mark Tomase writes all the music and plays lead and rhythm guitars, bass, and drums. Walter Fitzpatrick is responsible for the vocals, lyrics and artistic design. Right off the bat, before we dive into At The Sound Of Blasphemy's 5 tracks, I can give major props to Walter for the logo design for the band; it pops right out at you as both original and creatively old-school. The album insert's artwork as a whole is badass. Now, onto the songs...

Motordevil are playing a grungy sort of hard rock, very gritty and caked with the distortion you'd expect from a stoner rock band. Walter's vocals are solid, very haunting and his lyrics express some very dark themes; their inspiration seems to be mostly culled from classic horror films and novels. Think Rob Zombie fronting a hybrid band of Alice In Chains and Stone Temple Pilots members, and you've got a fair picture of their sound. Each of the 5 tracks offers up soundly written riffs and composisitions that show a knack for songwriting in Mr. Tomase. The atmosphere is a creepy sort, and some of the songs take unexpected turns; the melodic break in the middle of the title track makes it my favorite song here. As do the lyrics; very creative and equally frightening. Also the use of vocal effects throughout shows great skill with the boards, something a band needs to bring dynamic to their songwriting.

For such a relatively new band, At The Speed Of Blasphemy offers ample promise and it contains most of the elements needed for Motordevil to turn their dreams into a reality. While I won't speculate as to their intentions with this project, I can say this; with a little more polish and perhaps a more capable drummer (Tomase holds his own but I take it was just filling a space; his true talents seem to be songwriting and lead guitar) we should see big things from this group. 

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