Demon Spell – Evil Nights Review

We’re gonna go ahead and get the most important point right out in the open: Evil Nights, the debut EP from Sicily’s Demon Spell, is almost entirely a work of tribute to Mercyful Fate. Yes, countless bands have been and will continue to be influenced by Fate and King Diamond’s solo material, but from Attic to Them, some are rather brash in their homage-as-modus operandi philosophy. Demon Spell joins this group but reaches back to the beginnings (and The Beginning), to the extra haunting and evil vibes of the Mercyful Fate / Nuns Have No Fun EP and the legendary Melissa full length.

For this reason, it’s a bit tough to evaluate Evil Nights on its own songwriting merits, as the sounds, vocals, hooks, melodies, riffs, solos… etc. and so forth are designed to emulate the foundational period of one of metal’s most foundational bands. And it must be said that they imitate with almost shocking aplomb. You’d be forgiven if you mistook the bridge and solo section of the opening eponymous track as a Melissa outtake, with Francesco Bauso’s leads really emulating the phrasing, tone, and tasteful level of flashiness perfected by Denner and Shermann more than 40 years ago. Later, in “Dark Deceiver (Woman of the Black Oath),” vocalist Federico Fano offers his full range of King Diamond imitations, from the mid-ranged yowls to the full falsetto wails and theatrical demonic touches. Even the interplay of the riffs and drums has that delightful bounce that offers bombast while leaving room for the vocals and solos to really expand the haunting atmosphere.

Okay, it isn’t all an exact emulation. There are some riff patterns that are a touch more NWOBHM than Mercyful Fate, and Fano’s falsettos occasionally lean harsher in a Rob Halford manner, but who are we even kidding here? Demon Spell set out to pay tribute to a very specific, legendary moment in metal history and they pretty much nail it. They can’t quite match their heroes in songwriting quality ‒ go ahead and look up the definition of “unfair comparison” for that one ‒ but they’re far from slouches in that department, it must be said.

If some of the better known, bigger sounded King/Fate clones come off as more of a King Diamond: The Experience type of thing you’d expect to see as a Las Vegas residency (if Vegas had better taste, that is), Demon Spell seem like they’re trying to tap into something on a deeper level with their connection to the early Fate material. Something eerier and more magickal. Well, consider that demon bell rang, that nun no-funned, that funeral black, and that corpse soulless. Well done, sirs.