LIZZY BORDEN – Deal with the Devil [vinyl LP remastered reissue] (2021) HQ *0dayrox Exclusive*

LIZZY BORDEN are releasing vinyl re-issues of classic albums ‘Master of Disguise’ (1989) and ‘Deal with the Devil’ (2000) via Metal Blade Records. This is a limited edition available in different vinyl colors and featuring the latest remasters.
”Deal with the Devil” is Lizzy Borden’s fifth studio album, their first album after 11 years and return to form for the band. While the cover artwork by comic book artist Todd McFarlane is cool, I think it doesn’t represents the music inside. Some may think of extreme metal – wrong – this hot hard rocking / classic US metal the band was famous for in the ’80s.
Musically, on ”Deal with the Devil” Lizzy Borden reminds me of Helix, songs with biting guitars – former guitarist David Michael Phillips (also ex-King Kobra) appears as guest – and big vocals.
This “Deal with the Devil [vinyl LP remastered reissue]” is a really welcomed release as the album never sounded better. The original CD release suffered from the 2000’s ‘loudness wars‘ style, with a saturated output level.
This vinyl press delivers a warm, balanced sound where you can appreciate all instruments clearly. This is our own, 0dayrox rip from the brand new, previously un-played LP.

‘Deal with the Devil’ was the sort of ‘reunion’ comeback finding the band trying to catch up with where they left off (Master of Disguise), but it’s not without a few new ideas. And that’s with the aim to recapture their ’80s roots, with a modern updated sound.
Tunes like “(This Ain’t) The Summer of Love” (a glammy cover of a Blue Öyster Cult song) or the title track might have well been Motley Crue or Helix cuts, some lost Sunset Strip cruise anthems for the new century.
The refreshed version of Alice Copper’s “Generation Landslide” wouldn’t have been out of place on The Cult’s ‘Sonic Temple’ if not for the vocals, and “Believe” fed me some flashbacks to Queensrÿche’s post-Mindcrime material like Empire, especially when Borden delivers his lower range vocals somewhat similar to those of Geoff Tate-go-accessible.

While there’s more modern songs like the groovy “We Only Come Out at Night” with its brazen, enormous bass lines or “The World is Mine”, most of the album it’s a straight continuation of the 1987-89 style with numbers like “Hell is For Heroes” and “Lovin’ You is Murder” executed with all the finesse, melody and layered vocal tracking we all love.
I also dug the opener “There Will Be Blood”, with a few ‘Easter Egg’ lyrics recalling “Council for the Cauldron” and “Flesheater” (metal bands love to do this on ‘comeback’ albums); and the exotic, Middle Eastern-flavored “Zanzibar”, a different and effective new sonic ground for Lizzy Borden.

‘Comeback’ albums are risky sometimes, but for ”Deal with the Devil” Lizzy Borden didn’t ruined the sound / style that made them great in the first place. This is an underrated album from the band which many fans of the band and ’80s hard rock never heard.
The lyrics are strong, and production itself is good, with a brazen guitar tone and incredibly well balanced vocals, modern and updated as one would have hoped. The only problem I had with the original release was the ‘brickwalled‘ output levels.
Now this vinyl LP makes justice to this rocking album, with a proper mastering and tranfer.
HIGHLY Recommended

Only at 0dayrox

SIDE A
01. There Will Be Blood Tonight
02. Hell Is for Heroes
03. Deal with the Devil
04. Zanzibar
05. Lovin’ You Is Murder

SIDE B
06. We Only Come Out at Night
07. Generation Landslide
08. The World Is Mine
09. State of Pain
10. (This Ain’t) The Summer of Love
11. Believe

Lizzy Borden – vocals
Alex Nelson – guitar, sitar
Mårten Andersson – bass
Joey Scott – drums
Additional musicians:
Elliott Solomon – keyboards, producer
Joey Vera – bass
Michael Davis – 4 and 12 string bass
Louis Cyphre – guitar
Dan Fitzgerald, David Michael Phillips, Joe Steals – lead guitar

BUY
www.indiemerch.com/metalbladerecords/band/lizzy-borden
eu.kingsroadmerch.com/metal-blade/artist/1043