In a world where goth metal bands are springing up all over the place, with people seeking to be the next NIGHTWISH or LACUNA COIL, it takes quite a lot to really get on, succeed and stay at the top. Agreed that each band needs a unique selling point, unfortunately in this case it seems that a lawsuit is what will bring most attention to the band: the legal dispute is over the trademark of “Lennon” and is being fought over between vocalist Lennon Murphy and John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono. It seems the band have milked this story as best they can with reports on the case appearing on their myspace.

   
Murphy wrote on 8 February: "Yesterday I received notice that Yoko Ono had filed a lawsuit against me asking for a cancellation of the trademark that I own for the name 'Lennon.' This could very well mean the career that I have worked so hard at, the one you all have believed in, may come to an end. I wanted to address the situation to all my fans because without you I am nothing and it's not fair to everyone who has believed in my music not to be properly informed of this pure bulls***."

I don’t see the point in posting something like this, to be honest Murphy should just leave the case to her private life and keep her myspace for her day job. I would understand if the band was terrible and no one had heard of them and that that they needed the publicity, however considering DEVIL'S GIFT is a collaboration between famed producer Jason Suecof  (of TRIVIUM & GOD FORBID fame) and Murphy, I would have said that they didn’t need the extra publicity. Supporting this point is the fact that Murphy made her first album when she was 17 ('5:30 Saturday morning') and that she has supported AEROSMITH, MOTLEY CRUE and KANSAS; these aren’t exactly small bands, they’re huge.

So if you’re picking this album to listen to for the first time, do not just do so because of her stupid court case, do it because you truly want to hear the band. Alright that’s enough of my ranting on about the state of bands self-publicity, let’s get on to the music. Something which I personally criticise a lot of bands for is making every song on their album sound exactly the same as the others, fortunately DEVIL'S GIFT don’t do this, well not completely.

Obviously with music of this genre the basics of a track sound similar to a lot of the others, but it is when you fully listen to songs like 'Shadow Never Ending' and 'Sacrifice' that you realise that this album could be worth telling your friends about. Murphy’s voice stands strong and varies between soft lines and moments where its ferocity will really shock you ('Victim'). 

If Ms Murphy wasn’t so eager to preach every single detail of her lawsuit then I think I’d be far more excited by this band, unfortunately in my opinion I think it detracts from what the band is about and stops me from truly liking the band. It is only because of tracks like 'Damned Angels' that I can see why DEVIL'S GIFT deserve some of their popularity. In conclusion, I think that although the band definitely have some good songs, they are not as good as other bands of the same genre who receive less attention.

Rating 2.6/5.0

Review by Alex Duncalf

Release Date: 20th October 2008