Album Review: Betzefer - The Devil Went Down To The Holy Land

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 hasn't heard of this band and then this! A masterpiece apart from current trends and as strange as that may sound, still just good old Heavy Metal. The Israeli Metallers «betzefer» are back with a new record and it gets rough without ever losing the irresistible groove. The eponymous song and title of the record alone speaks a clear language. All 14 songs never get lost in a pure metal bang, but always remain hit numbers, but never lose the necessary heaviness. You've hardly gotten used to the fact that traditional metal always has something to do with waving swords and strangely high-pitched voices when four guys from Israel come around the corner and show that there are definitely traditions worth preserving. Namely: damn heavy riffs, damn heavy grooves and damn great vocals! In short, the kind of music that «Pantera» celebrated in the mid-nineties or as «Betzefer» put it themselves: «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 defining and unique in the style of the Texans, has fully developed again in the Israelis. Here there is less beating or thrashing and certainly not sawing, it's riffing! And one brilliant riff chases the other, it's a real joy to hear such a chord-heavy record. Of course, "Betzefer" only remixes and prepares the old ingredients, nothing really new happens, but that doesn't bother anyone, on the contrary! The influence of the Texan trend-slayers is felt throughout the record, sometimes complemented by a bit of "Machine Head" or "Sepultura". But the guys didn't copy cheaply, no, they developed their own style and convince with energy and enthusiasm, which ultimately make this record an independent little masterpiece. Incidentally, the musical and songwriting skills of this young band are above the standard that most newcomers and meanwhile also one or the other of the mentioned reference bands have. Massive heaviness without forgetting the groove, melody without becoming kitschy, emotion and a lot of passion. Everything presented with a lot of power. And as if that wasn't enough, with Avital Tamir you have another singer who snatches the whiskey from good old Phil Anselmo and drinks it himself, because whoever combines so much power, aggression and yet melodiousness in his voice doesn't need any comparisons to shy away from

For Avital Tamir, his band's third album is far 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 had one guitar available." 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 careers 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, for each of the tracks we needed just one or two sessions. This is a confident, mature and all-around accomplished album that we are very proud of." And rightly so, because the four-piece band has indeed developed amazingly. From the classy 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" have matured into a homogeneous and consistent metal band that offers the audience their own feeling for life. «For us, heavy metal isn't just some superficial art form, but something that's fundamental to life, like eating, drinking, sleeping, breathing. I can still remember the great importance 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 pleasure 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 find this to be wonderful development. I'm always happy that we have a particularly close relationship with Germany and its metal fans. What a great signal for the whole world! »

BETZEFER - "The Devil Went Down To The Holy Land" (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

In the meantime «Betzefer» have established themselves as Israel's biggest and most successful metal band. The band toured for many months, in Europe with the likes of "Soulfly" and "Lamb Of God". Her great success with the audience brought her 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, after returning home, opened a show for "Megadeth" in front of thousands of enthusiastic fans. After extensive preliminary work, 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 toured with bands such as Gwar, Cavalera Conspiracy and Pro-Pain in order to perform on the main stage of the With Full Force Festival to travel to Germany. Back in Israel, "Betzefer" released an anniversary show on YouTube, filmed and recorded in Tel-Aviv, entitled "10 Fuckin Years". In September 2012, the band returned to the studio (The Haunted, Sick Of It All, Mnemic) with longtime friend and producer Tue Madsen to put the finishing touches on The Devil Went Down To The Holy Land. So the signs are pointing to a storm, because with a brilliant new album and a line-up that hasn't changed in ten years, the group of fans is set to grow significantly once again. “We're coming for a couple of shows in December and we'll be plowing all over Europe for six weeks in spring 2014. We're looking forward to many places we've never played before."

In times when the measure of creativity is measured in the merging 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 build a phat metal slab of the very finest that you have to feel like the rats in Pantera's rehearsal room in the mid-nineties. Fat, groovy, with brilliant vocals and an unbelievable intensity and devotion. The guys give their all, just want to make their music and don't give a damn about the rest of the world. “We feel quite 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 leave nothing 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 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 about, that's what we do: Fucking Rock'n'Roll!" «Betzefer» signed to 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, with the rest of Europe on October 28th into trade. A masterpiece apart from current trends. No metal core! No NuAnything! But true to the band motto simply «Fucking Rock'n'Roll»! Nothing more and not a jot less. The Great Israeli Trendkill!

Track List:

1. Tropical
2. The Devil Went Down to the Holy Land
3. Killing the foot
4. Cash
5. Yuppie Six Feet Underground
6. Copkiller
7. Sledgehammer
8. The Medic
9. Milk
10. Suicide Hotline Pt. 1
11. Suicide Hotline Pt. 2
12. Cannibal
13. I Hate›
14. Can you hear me now?

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