Hell yeah! The Devil Went Down To The Holy Land! How true! For me, an absolutely brilliant record comes out of absolutely nothing! I'm sure I'm not the only one who has never heard of this band and then this! A masterpiece outside of current trends and as strange as it may sound, it's still just good old heavy metal. The Israeli Metalheads”betzefer” are out with a new record and it’s rough without ever losing the irresistible groove. The eponymous song and title of the record alone speak for themselves. All 14 songs never lose themselves in a pure metal blast, but always remain hit numbers, but never lose the necessary heaviness. As soon as you get used to the fact that traditional metal always has to do with waving swords and strangely high voices, four guys from Israel come around the corner and show that there are traditions worth preserving. Namely: Damn heavy riffs, damn heavy grooves and damn awesome vocals! In short, the kind of music that “Pantera” celebrated in the mid-nineties or as “Betzefer” themselves put it: “Fuckin Rock'n'Roll!”
And Betzefer's music actually has a lot to do with rock'n'roll. The latent heavy blues influence, which was already formative and unique among the Texans, has once again fully developed with the Israelis. Here there is less beating or threshing and certainly no sawing, there is reefing! And one brilliant riff follows another, it's a real joy to hear such a chord-heavy record. Of course, “Betzefer” only remixes and prepares the old ingredients, there is nothing really new, but that doesn’t bother anyone, on the contrary! The influence of the Texan trend-slayers is noticeable throughout the record, sometimes supplemented by a bit of “Machine Head” or “Sepultura”. But the guys didn't copy cheaply, no, they developed their own style and impress with their energy and enthusiasm, which ultimately make this record a small masterpiece in its own right. In addition, the musical and songwriting skills of this young band are above the standard set by most newcomers and now also one or other of the reference bands mentioned. Massive heaviness without forgetting the groove, melody without becoming cheesy, emotion and a lot of heart and soul. Everything presented with lots of power. And as if that wasn't enough, with Avital Tamir you also have a singer who snatches the whiskey from good old Phil Anselmo and drinks it himself, because someone who combines so much power, aggression and yet melodiousness in his voice needs no comparisons to shy away.
For Avital Tamir, his band's third album is much more than just another release. For the singer, “The Devil Went Down To The Holy Land” is the most mature and coherent record of his musical career to date. “These are real songs for the first time,” he says, “you could easily play them even if you only have a guitar at your disposal.” Tamir and his group members Matan Cohen (guitar), Rotem Inbar (bass) and Roey Bermann (drums) look back on the shortest and most fruitful creative period of their career until “The Devil Went Down To The Holy Land” was dry: “We needed Less than a year from the first idea to the final product, we only needed one or two sessions for each of the pieces. This is a confident, mature and all-round successful album that we are very proud of.” And rightly so, because the four-piece band has indeed developed amazingly. From the racy debut album “Down Low” (2005) with its freshness to the noticeably more daring successor “Freedom To The Slave Makers” to the new, third disc, “Betzefer” has matured into a homogeneous and consistent metal band that gives the audience their own brings you closer to your attitude to life. “For us, heavy metal is not some distant art form, but something that is fundamental to life, like eating, drinking, sleeping, breathing. I can still remember what great meaning this music had for me as a teenager and how it helped me with the typical problems of an adolescent.” The fact that “Betzefer” have signed a contract with a German record company for the third time in their career is a great joy for Tamir because of the special relationship between the two countries: “In view of the painful history that Germany and Israel have with each other, I see this as wonderful development. I'm always happy that we maintain a particularly close relationship with Germany and its metal fans. What a great signal for the whole world!”
“Betzefer” has now established itself as Israel’s largest and most successful metal band. The band toured for many months, in Europe with greats like “Soulfly” and “Lamb Of God”. Their great success with the audience brought them to the main stages of the most important summer festivals in a very short time. In March 2007, “Betzefer” went on tour with Sepultura and, upon their return home, opened a show for “Megadeth” in front of thousands of enthusiastic fans. After extensive preliminary production, Betzefer went into the studio in spring 2008 and produced their second album “Freedom To The Slave Makers”. The band was then signed for the main stage of the Ozzfest Festival in Tel-Aviv and went on tour with bands like “Gwar”, “Cavalera Conspiracy” and “Pro-Pain” in order to appear on the main stage of the With Full Force Festival to travel to Germany once. Back in Israel, “Betzefer” released an anniversary show via YouTube, filmed and recorded in Tel-Aviv, called “10 Fuckin Years.” In September 2012, the band went back into the studio with their long-time friend and producer Tue Madsen (The Haunted, Sick Of It All, Mnemic) to put the finishing touches on “The Devil Went Down To The Holy Land”. So the signs point to a storm, because with a brilliant new album and a line-up that has remained unchanged for ten years, the circle of fans is set to increase significantly once again. “We're coming in December for a few shows and will be hitting the whole of Europe for six weeks in spring 2014. We’re looking forward to a lot of places we’ve never played before.”
In times when the measure of creativity is measured in the fusion of Stockholm and Brooklyn, this band is exactly the piece of integrity and honest toughness that the scenes need today. On their latest album “The Devil Went Down To The Holy Land” the four guys create a massive piece of metal at its finest that will make you feel like rats in Pantera's rehearsal room in the mid-nineties. Fat, groovy, with brilliant vocals and an incredible intensity and dedication. The guys give it their all, just want to make their music and don't care much about the rest of the world. “We feel pretty comfortable as underdogs. The fans know what’s going on and we don’t give a damn about the media.” says Avital “Be yourself, live your life and don’t leave anything out! Don't be afraid to be different, to break out of social patterns. The lyrics, like the music, are very angry and aggressive. I always try to tell the truth as I see it. It's about things that bother me or annoy me. It's about really living life. Fucking Rock'n'Roll is a kind of band anthem. A statement. Because that’s what it’s all about, that’s what we do: Fucking Rock’n’Roll!” “Betzefer” signed with the German label Steamhammer/SPV in the summer and will release “The Devil Went Down to the Holy Land” on October 25th, 2013 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; the album will be released in the rest of Europe on October 28th into trade. A masterpiece away from current trends. No metalcore! No nothing! But true to the band motto, simply “Fucking Rock'n'Roll”! Nothing more and not a bit less. The Great Israeli Trendkill!
- Tropical
- The Devil Went Down to the Holy Land
- Killing the foot
- Cash
- Yuppie Six Feet Underground
- Copkiller
- Sledgehammer
- The Medic
- Milk
- Suicide Hotline Pt. 1
- Suicide Hotline Pt. 2
- Cannibal
- I Hate'
- Can you hear me now?
[rwp-review id = "0"]