The awesome debut EP from The Devil's Blood comes at us from Profound Lore, and it's an unexpected dose of infectious occult psych metal from this female fronted Dutch band that apparently includes members of some known black metal bands but operates under virtual anonymity, with only the members initials appearing in the liner notes to Come,Reap. No matter, this is a fucking fantastic five song EP that follows up the band's demos and Graveyard Shuffle 7" with four new songs and a cover of Roky Erickson's "White Faces". When you read through the lyrics and liner notes, the band extols all manner of death worship, Satanic imagery and drug use, but the music is so lush and catchy and rocking that the subject matter slips by you. Amazing vocal harmonies, spooky melodic hooks and soaring guitar solos, and a vintage sounding production seriously makes Come, Reap sound like it came out of some alternate universe version of the 1970's, where heavy AM radio rock was influenced by dark Satan-worshipping psychedelia. Jefferson Airplane, Coven, Black Widow, and Roky Erickson are all reference points, but I also hear shades of Kansas, Blue Oyster Cult and Boston in here too, especially on the last song "Voodoo Dust", an impossibly catchy song that sounds so much like Boston it's eerie, albeit if Boston had actually been a bunch of devil-worshipping hippies. I'm convinced that if "Voodoo Dust" had been released as a single back in the late 1970's, it would have been an enormous FM radio hit, and we'd be hearing it all over classic rock radio now, it's infectious hooks and yearning vocals extolling our love for the Great Horned One. Fans of that Blood Ceremony album that came out on Rise Above will probably love this too, as both bands draw from that same era of heavy 70's psych and proto-metal and are both fronted by female vocalists, but where Blood Ceremony is proggy and loaded with flute, The Devil's Blood is definitely more rocking and catchy. This is one of my favorite releases of the year, and highly recommended to anyone into witchy, proggy Satan worshipping hard rock! Comes in a six panel gatefold package.