RIKETS
1/24/2006
Anything For The Devil Review
by Justin Donnelly, The Metal Forge
Interesting mix of metal elements with potential
It’s been a long two years since Cleveland (Ohio) act Erase The Grey decided to split following the release of their debut E.P. 27 Days (Released in 2002 through Universal Records), but vocalist Scott Rose has finally returned with a new outfit, this time under the name of Rikets (A disease resulting from a lack of vitamin D/calcium and from insufficient exposure to sunlight). Helping flesh out Rose’s new musical vision (Aside his post Erase The Grey project Bedroom All-Stars) are guitarists Ken Obloy (Ex-Puppet) and Brad Kochmit (Ex-Switched), bassist Josh Jansen (Who is now a member of Tinjen), sampler Matt Haze, keyboardist Chanley Leffel and drummer Angel (A.K.A. Andrew Bartolotta, who is a member of Genitorturers and formerly of The Undead), with Anything For The Devil their long awaited debut offering.
Recorded in late 2004 (With ex-Switched vocalist Ben Schigel producing, and ex-Machine Head/Soulfly/Stereo Black guitarist Logan Mader mixing), the five tracks on offer from Rikets is collectively a hybrid mix of metal, industrial rock and nu-metal. While it’s a genre mix that could hardly be called a glowing endorsement, Rikets actually manage to make the five tracks on their E.P. sound interesting and thoroughly enjoyable.
Useless, although enhanced with a host of industrial programmed beats and effects, still allows the guitars to deliver most of the song’s spirited force, while Rose’s vocals move between screams and clean lines, without forsaking the all important melody. Stretching the distances between nu-metal and industrial is Hollywood, which has a slight Static-X influence in the writing sense, while the huge hooks in Blister and Bitter Words are the best examples of the band’s ability to combine heavy guitars with subtle and unobtrusive industrial/sampled sounds. The final track Anything For The Devil is a huge anthem like effort that includes some well-utilised female vocals for the chorus, and shows a different side to the bands sound with a greater percussion driven/industrial edge, without falling into the mundane.
Anything For The Devil won’t rewrite musical history, and for the most part, it’s all been heard before. But where Rikets actually succeed over most in their chosen field is by ensuring that their main focus is in a strong song basis first and foremost, with the additional extras merely being added for effect only. The only weak point worth mentioning about Anything For The Devil is its brevity, but given the fact that Rose is currently working on a full length release due sometime later in the year (Under the working title of God Amongst Insects), it’s a problem that will easily be rectified next time around.
Rating: 3.5/5
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