By: Jay Broderick
Andy Du Rego, front man for local band The Blues Emergency, is a Toronto musician who has branched out into a solo career. For close to 10 years, the artist has released music under the moniker Black Suit Devil, a play on the artists inspirational music and outlook on life.
Having released the first Black Suit Devil album The Freedom Sessions in 2017, and the follow-up release A Matter of Time in 2019, Black Suit Devil has put together 8 brand new tracks for The Eternal Sleep.
This album was actually written in 2020 during the pandemic. At the time of the writing, Du Rego reflected on where he was in his life, and where the world is headed. Released on June 28, 2024, the album comes with a much darker but somehow uplifting feel, and promises to be the musician's best work yet. So here it is that we take a look into this latest work from Black Suit Devil.
The Eternal Sleep kicks off with the very anthemic, rock song "Buried in You". It's got a real feel of 1990s hard rock like Guns 'n Roses. The song has a driving guitar lick that sets the pace and Du Rego's vocals have that edgy, raspiness that screams rock and roll! While it's got a great hook, and is easily something that can, and should be played on the radio, Black Suit Devil seemingly says 'hang on a sec here... we're taking this to the limit'. With it's 7 1/2 minute run time, it's something your average radio station will shy away from. But for your better than average music fan, the length of the track allows for some amazing guitar work, pace changes, and breakdowns that is an absolute pleasure to listen to. The 7+ minutes fly by before you even know it.
Style wise, things change fairly significantly on the second track "Tell Me Mama". This one starts off with a wickedly groovy drum beat that is soon accompanied by a very bluesy electric guitar. Lyrically, the song speaks to the message Du Rega is spilling out on this whole album. Why do we do what we do? Why do we treat each other like shit? The track rolls out as a solid electric blues song that's got great rhythm and for me, is one of the stand out songs on the album.
Songs 3-7 bring more of an acoustic, ballad-like transition, mixed with more fantastic guitar playing that is really the centerpiece of this album for me. Electric interludes, and solos really highlight the musicianship of the creator. "Passage" is a sombre track about the loss of loved ones dealing with depression and mental health issues. It has a heart heavy guitar piece halfway through, and a vocal crescendo that gives me chills. This happens to be the album's first single and is one of those songs that should be on everybody's playlist.
The Eternal Sleep closes out with a super fun punk song called "Shut the Punk Up". As a huge fan of Irish Punk bands like Dropkick Murphy's and The Mahones, this song is drinking fair at its finest. It'll hype you up, and will make you want to slam, and party. I'm not certain the track exactly follows the style of the rest of the album, but with transitions from rock, to electric blues to acoustic melodies, perhaps I am wrong. Either way, it's a great punch-in-the-guts song to finish off a really great album.
Track List
1) Buried In You
2) Tell Me Mama
3) The Setting Sun
4) Passage
5) Let It Go
6) New Day Sun
7) The Eternal Sleep
8) Shut The Punk Up
The production value on this one is fantastic, and that's just with me listening to a digital copy. It's recorded loud, and well, that's our name! Aside from the album's final track (which comes in at 3:51), all the songs come in above the 4 minute threshold. This showcases the song writing abilities of Andy Du Rego. He's not afraid to take each track to it's utmost potential. Rather than a quick 3 minute radio friendly blip, he maximizes each song's potential. For a music lover, that should be music to your ears!
Black Suit Devil Online
Blast Toronto also did a review of this fine recording.