Recently I took you on a journey through DEVILOOF’s very first album “Devil’s Proof”, in which I admitted that I had made a review of that album before, closer to its original release date. But also that my interests and standards have changed since that time. I’ve become far, far more interested in lyrics and the story an artist can tell through them when they’re combined with the instruments, for example.
I’m a visually oriented person by nature, and while there are many ways to interpret words (we’re only humans after all, all of us are different individuals), one way I interpret lyrics is by forming a sort of ‘movie’ in my head. This ‘movie’ allows me to listen to a release regardless of what visuals are attached to it that we can all see, or what style the lyrics are sung in.
With this method, I saw “Devil’s Proof” in a completely different light. But one thing kept gnawing at me. One release that I had previously made a review for, but was never able to express in words like I wanted to express it. Plus, I missed one key element of that release that I only saw once I got a physical CD of it in my own hands.
“Devil’s Calling/Angel’s Cry” is a double A-side single that was announced in January of 2020, with an expected release date of March 11 of the same year. Due to some problems the single was then delayed indefinitely, but saw its actual release through the band’s webshop on August 7 of 2020.
Existing out of only two tracks, no music video and just a slim case as well as a more ‘difficult’ method of obtaining a physical CD for yourself, I wouldn’t be surprised if you skipped out on this single entirely. But, the two tracks on this release are “Angel’s Cry” and “Devil’s Calling”, as the title already suggested. And yes, they are on this CD in that order, this is not me being a weirdo or anything. (At least not in this case!)
In this review we’re going to look at both songs, but the style will be slightly different than what I normally do, since there is one very, very interesting aspect on this single, and that is also the one thing I missed entirely in my original review.
So, are you ready for “Devil’s Calling/Angels’ Cry”? Then let’s go!
I embrace your shadow and greet the sun again today
The single starts off with “Angel’s Cry”, a song that’s not only the very first melodic speed metal track for the band, but probably also the very first song where vocalist 桂佑 (Keisuke) sounds like an entirely different person. Not only does he use his melodic vocal style throughout the entire song, the words he sings are also shockingly sweet for a DEVILOOF song.
There are no deep growls, no squeals, nothing demonic, no heavy use of the drum and bass guitar, nothing that would make you say ‘oh this is DEVILOOF!’ immediately. So it probably wouldn’t surprise you if I told you that this style was a bit of an ‘experiment’ for the group, probably mostly courtesy of guitarist Ray, since he is usually the one who adds the melodic vocals as a second voice in songs like “Dusky-Vision” and “False Self” (the latter being released in 2022, but since we’re writing this review in 2025 I feel like I can mention it here) and the style used here is rather reminiscent of his style in those songs. Plus, the song was composed by guitarist Ray and bassist 大樹 (Daiki), who also wrote the lyrics.
“Devil’s Calling” takes a different turn, one that is immediately recognizable as DEVILOOF’s style. Not only do the familiar growls and squeals return in 桂佑 (Keisuke)’s vocals, but the heavier use of the bass and drums also immediately return once the 8-bit intro finishes. This intro is in the same style as the instrumentals used for “Angel’s Cry”, and also returns in the bridge part of this song, tying both together even more than just being two tracks that just so happened on the same release.
But what makes these two tracks so special is something that you’ll only notice when you see the physical CD for yourself. As mentioned in the intro, it’s a slim case with the CD and just one piece of paper featuring the cover artwork and the lyrics on the back – which is where the hidden element lies. On the back it says: “Angel’s Cry: Lyric: 大樹 (Daiki) Music: Ray” and “Devil’s Calling: Lyric: 大樹 (Daiki) Music: 桂佑 (Keisuke)”, followed by only one song lyric. (Their “Newspeak” single actually uses a similar style of case and inlay, but this single does have both songs on it in terms of lyrics – mainly because they don’t use the element this single is using.)
Simply put: the lyrics for both songs are exactly the same. Even though it’s almost impossible to make out in “Devil’s Calling” because of the growling vocal style that we hear so often from 桂佑 (Keisuke). And as I told you in “Angel’s Cry” already, these lyrics are actually surprisingly sweet, telling us a love story where our narrator is hopelessly in love with a girl despite her lies piling up. Just having her there is a miracle, and it’s really a story of love that he vows to die for.
Conclusion
Despite being a short and experimental single, DEVILOOF manages to surprise once more. Not just with a melodic speed metal track, but also by essentially presenting us the same song under two different names and styles – at least lyrically. And while they’ve always presented themselves as a ‘hard & heavy’-type of band, they also prove that they are absolutely capable of diverting away from that genre, at least a little bit.
The only problem is … the band has never released this single on Spotify, and due to it being available through their webshop exclusively at that time it might be a little hard to get your hands on. So for that reason I’m going to do something I normally don’t like to do, and that is give you the full single on YouTube through a fan upload:
 N/A // ¥1,200 |
02. Devil's Calling |
2020.08.07 Shop: CDJapan |
Additionally, the group doesn’t have a ‘look’ for this release, so that’s why I’m using the look from their previous release 鬼 (Oni) instead.
More about DEVILOOF
         |  (Keisuke) |  |  (Aisaku) |
 (Daiki) |  (Kanta) |
雪 (Yuki) is the owner and driving force behind Arlequin.
She originally started the project in 2009 as a photographer under the name of Arlequin Photography, but developed an interest in journalism and translation ever since. Because of these interests interviews and reviews were added to the project, until it eventually hit the limits as a "photographer" in 2021, and Arlequin Magazine was added to the mix.
雪 (Yuki) is a native Dutch speaker with a graphic design degree, which means she is also the main person behind Arlequin Creations.
After all these years, she's still the one responsible for the interviews and most of the live photography you see here at Arlequin, but the majority of reviews and behind-the-scenes work is also done by her.
The reviews she writes are from the viewing point of an overseas fan, and thus written in English before being translated to Dutch, Spanish and Japanese. In the English versions she also tries to explain the meaning behind certain kanji or song titles to the readers, but what you don't see here is that these explanations are omitted in the Japanese versions in order to appeal to these readers more.
She speaks Dutch and English on a native level, but also understands Japanese and German.