Metal Underground.com

Something tells me that had the members of Bible Of The Devil taken one more pass at the songs on "For The Love Of Thugs And Fools," the end result would've been a much better album. As it is, the record has a maddening "almost there" feel, falling just short of the mark, both in terms of production and performance.

Granted, these guys have never been known for super-clean sounds — what stoner rock is? Still, the sloppy sound on this one doesn't do drummer Greg Spalding any favors, especially on tracks like "Sexual Overture/Away," making his drumming feel overly simplistic, with little heft.

There's also the sense that one has heard some of these songs before. "The Parcher" seems to owe a lot to Survivor's "Rocky" soundtrack tune "Eye Of The Tiger" in the early going, while "Can't Turn Off The Sun" will remind plenty of listeners of the Dio classic "Holy Diver."

Then again, there seem to be some intentional homages as well. The much-better "Yer Boy" has a Thin Lizzy feel, asking with a wink, "when did yer boy come back into town?"

The album's best moment is definitely the slinky "I Know What Is Right (In The Night)," with its late-'70s Kiss swagger. It doesn't hurt that singer/guitarist Mark Hoffman sounds quite a bit like a more gravelly Paul Stanley. Also, I dig that saxophone solo, which gives away to shrieking electric guitar.

The opening riff of "Raw And Order," which feels a little reminiscent of Black Sabbath's "Mob Rules," is also quite excellent, though the rest of the song doesn't really match it. There's also another nice Lizzy vibe on "Anytime," though once again Spalding's drumming during the verses feels flatter than it needs to. Still, Hoffman and Nate Perry flat-out rock the instrumental breakdown in the middle.

It isn't that Bible Of The Devil's "For The Love Of Thugs And Fools" is a bad album, it's that it's just not as good as you know the band is capable of making it. In its way, that's more maddening than if the disc was just outright bad. Still, the moments of greatness peppered throughout make it a worthy listening experience.