siLLy puPPy When thinking of one of the most eccentric frontmen in the entire history of rock music, your mind may gravitate towards Alice Cooper or Arthur Brown for their over-the-top stage performances and shock value horror rock appearances. Or perhaps the unhinged insane asylum escape antics of Jim Morrison or GG Allin. The freakishly outsider ethos of Tom Waits or Frank Zappa even? Well, the award may very go to one of the lesser known enigmas to haunt the progressive rock underground, namely Mr Doctor who bedazzled the world with his Italian-Slovenian band DEVIL DOLL. Enigmatic and mysteriously anonymous for decades, Mr Doctor only publicly revealed his legal name as Mario Panciera in 2008. With a penchant for the controversial and excessively theatrical, Mr Doctor’s eccentric behaviors included recording a debut album titled “Mark Of The Beast” in 1987 and only pressing a single copy retained by the good Dr himself which has remained utterly out of reach of his cult-based fanbase ever since.

Named after the 1964 British horror film, Mr Doctor delivered a musical experience every bit as frightening and strangely demented. Add to his unorthodox ways, the good Doctor started two totally different versions of DEVIL DOLL, one based in Venice, Italy and the other in Ljubljana, Slovenia (then Yugoslavia) however after Slovenia was invaded in 1991 the two bands were merged. And that’s not even getting to the music itself which featured Mr Doctor’s wildly articulated experimental vocal style accompanied by a strange mix of symphonic prog, modern classical, folk music, gothic rock, dark cabaret, neoclassical darkwave, heavy metal and a theatrical operatic delivery system more akin to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom Of The Opera” than anything out of the rock paradigm playbook. With an abundance of instrumentation, the effect is bold, pompous and filled to the brim with sounds from guitars, keyboards, violins, bass guitar, drums and even a harp and tuba.

The band DEVIL DOLL released five of its albums from 1989 to 1996 however it has been claimed that many more were recorded and never intended for release thus adding an extra layer of bizarre eccentricity to the mix. With albums that primarily feature album long tracks that take wild rides through various musical genres, DEVIL DOLL emerged as and remains one of the most unique musical forces ever to exist. The first album available to the public, DEVIL DOLL’s debut album, THE GIRL WHO WAS… DEATH itself found an unusual way of being released. Originally pressed into 500 copies, only 150 were handed out during a live performances and then afterwards the remaining 350 LPs were set aflame. Now how’s that for erratic, eccentric and perhaps even a tidbit wildly acentric?

With a musical theme based on the television series “The Prisoner,” THE GIRL WHO WAS… DEATH traversed through an ever-changing musical rotisseries of varying themes and melodies with captivating metaphorical lyrics and of course Mr Doctor’s erratic and oft jarring vocal performances. While the running time displays 66 minutes and 6 seconds, the sole title track is in reality closer to 39 minutes followed by 25 1/2 minutes of silence and then as a hidden closing surprise, a sampling and reinterpretation of the theme song from “The Prisoner” TV series. The title track opens with a dark gloomy piano run and spectral vocalizations from The Devil Chorus and then goes full on dramatic. Histrionic build ups and militant percussive drive revs up the tension with a thundering crescendo of an introduction before Mr Doctor begins his draconian vocal gymnastics that admittedly are an acquired taste.

Sounding something like a mix of King Diamond and Current 93’s David Tibet, Mr Doctor’s vocals are unlike any other and unfortunately a roadblock for many to delve into the world of DEVIL DOLL. Musically the album features alternating mood swings that engage in accompanied piano rolls to fully fueled heavy metal bombast. The most metal leaning of the DEVIL DOLL canon, THE GIRL WHO WAS… DEATH is the loudest, heaviest and delivers the greatest contrasts but even during the metal madness moments Mr Doctor delivers bizarrely processed vocal contributions which is exactly what you would not expect. Lush orchestrations contrast greatly with prog and metal moments and church organs with creepy liturgic harmonies courtesy of the Devil Choir burst in unexpectedly. Violins come and go and well the only thing to expect here is the unexpected.

DEVIL DOLL delivered some of the most demanding genre-bending works of the late 80s and 90s and even at this stage in 2024 remains utterly unique, unapologetically idiosyncratic and timeless in its unorthodox approach to just about everything it unleashes. Despite all these wild rides into the unknown though, the music is melodically accessible and logically composed. Like a classic opera of the ages, Mr Doctor wove a tapestry of intricately designed cadences and motifs fortified by an arsenal of instrumentation and legion of musicians and vocalists to support an overarching theme. While the proclivities to take everything into the world of extremities is rampant from beginning to end, the music is composed in a traditional classical manor while the time signatures and hairpin turns and musical curveballs are more out of the progressive rock paradigm.

No doubt about it. Mr Doctor really is one of the most oddball eccentricities of the rock universe and only a single exposure to any DEVIL DOLL album will easily convince you of that argument. I’ve been a fan of this bizarre musical act after i picked up “Sacrilegium” some years back but all five of the albums are of the finest quality with this debut being no exception. Beautifully designed and deliciously even devilishly executed, THE GIRL WHO WAS… DEATH is a top notch release with a feisty spirit that delivers the most far-reaching expressions of the musical universe where a whole cauldron of influences is pieced together in a wild array of eclecticism that comes off as epic, enigmatic and utterly mind blowing. While whacked out of his mind in so many ways, the good Dr is a mad musical genius unlike any other. Sure the 25 1/2 minutes of silence is ridiculous but hardly a blemish on an otherwise perfect album.

Warthur Unlike most previous Devil Doll releases, Dies Irae was split into parts to allow listeners to easily find particular parts of the composition. Make no mistake though: this is another album-length single-track saga following the precedent and compositional principles established in The Girl Who Was Death, in Devil Doll's characteristic application of symphonic prog compositional principles to gothic rock aesthetics and subject matter. The inclusion of string soloists borrowed from the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra aids the enigmatic Mr Doctor in attaining the level of pomp and gravitas aimed for, and if the band's basic approach hasn't evolved much since the debut, it hasn't degraded much either.

Warthur Devil Doll's musical style can be described as a blend of symphonic prog, goth rock, and horror film soundtracks. Though some of Mr Doctor's more pretentious stunts - such as only recording one copy of the band's debut album, The Mark of the Beast, and keeping it for himself, or producing 500 copies of the first run of this album and then burning 350 of them at a concert - might come off as ridiculous attention-seeking, there's no denying that at least on The Girl Who Was Death the man has concocted an intriguing blend of styles which don't obviously go together. With a concept based around celebrating the classic TV series The Prisoner and a typically eccentric vocal performance by Mr Doctor himself, the album is certainly an acquired taste, but one worth acquiring.

renkls Here's a album that really disappointed me. I say disappointed because perhaps my favorite album ever (or at least top 10) is The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms, a 'remix'/extended version of this album, Sacrilegium. This is one case where the 'directors cut' completely lays the original to shame.

Now what kind of music does Devil Doll play? A look at the tracklist says this is one 58 minute epic, which is not the case, however it's certainly epic in a different sense. Devil Doll plays pretty hard rock/bombast prog throughout their discography, and on this album is fitted with instruments as broad as choirs and pianos. As with all Devil Doll releases, the metal influence is slight.

This album was intended to be a grand statement by the band, and as The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms proved, all the elements for a masterpiece were there - but were scattered abysmally. The album design as a single track is so scattershot, parts segue and jump so unexpectedly and randomly there's no way you could ever pick up what the hell the album is about without studying the lyrics carefully, and relistening many, many times, both of which I've done.

To simplify the album to explain further, there seems to be two interlinked narrative themes throughout the album, both interweaved in this CD in a very haphazard way. The music itself lacks any real build or flow because each part seems individual to itself, not part of some grander picture. If Mr. Doctor had not retrospectively remixed this into the true masterpiece it originally could have been, I'd write this off as a very poor release. Such as it is however, I can understand its importance in relation to one of my favorite albums, but still...

I seldom play this album anymore because it simply pales in comparison to its far superior remake/remix. For all who read this, I suggest that you give this a listen along with The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms and decide which works best for you.

renkls A preliminary note. Devil Doll are most commonly associated with rock opera compositions with metal elements. The extent in which metal takes a part in their work is pretty debatable, but integral to the albums - despite being in the minority of their album content. Don't go into a Devil Doll album expecting hour long metal epics - but they are epics of a different nature.

Ah, The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms. I have, for a long time intended to revamp my review over at Progarchives, or at least, justify my perfect score for this album, but never got around to it. Now that I have some time, I will do just that. Devil Doll are a strange band...band is almost not applicable here, because one man who goes by the pseudonym of "Mr. Doctor" designs every aspect of what is heard in the final releases, with the assistance of muliple musicians to give the effect that he desires. There hasn't been any real word from Mr. Doctor aside from a 2006 interview, 10 years after the last Devil Doll album was released. That album, Dies Irae, is considered by most Devil Doll fans to be his magnum opus, though I have always much preferred TSoFA. Let me explain why this album garners a perfect score. TSoFA is actually a remixed/revamped version of Devil Doll's previous album, Sacrilegium. This album was released in 1992, and runs about 48 minutes in length. It is probably my least favorite Devil Doll album, and you would think, given that TSoFA is so heavily based on Sacrilegium, that I would not be so much more affectionate towards its existence. But I am, because Sacrilegium suffers from the feeling of being a rushed and poorly composed effort. Conceptually, all the elements for a masterpiece were there, but they were not assembled into a truly realised work of art. We were pulled from one seemingly unrelated thread of lyrics and music to another, with no sense of meaning or reason. The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms however, is a complete revamp of the albums structure, and design. Lyrically, not a word has changed. The order of the verses have, the music has been remastered into reflecting a very different feeling. There are long instrumental periods throughout TSoFA, which contrasts with Sacrilegium's more sporadic and bombastic approach. There is a catharsis that runs through this album which is unlike any other I've heard. The dated quality of the recording shows in this album, being an independent artist, Devil Doll did not have the highest quality recording studio out there. But this adds to the effect of the album even more. When it wants to be, TSoFA is powerful and majestic in the same fashion as Sacrilegium, but it uses this power sparingly, and in the design of the album, strips back the emotion into the feeling of heartbroken catharsis. This feeling is very much in tune with the lyrics, which after many readings and thoughts, now make sense to me. I'll leave you as listeners to determine what they mean for yourself. In extending the album by almost half an hour, there are elements which reemerge in increasing power. While Sacrilegium tended to not reuse musical elements, a great deal of parts of that album are altered and placed two or three times within the albums daunting length. while in most cases, this would be considered a lazy and poor effort in design, here, the escalating power in these segments, gives the album more momentum and forward progression then Sacrilegium had in its poorly concentrated and undisciplined approach. Both albums are single track efforts - this being the massive length of 79 minutes. The album never really feels like it drags or grows old, except when that is exactly the kind of feeling it wants to reflect. I mentioned at the start of the review that the metal elements are very sparse in this recording, and they are. There are about 10 minutes which feel 'metal' in the progressive sense, the rest are far more subdued and minimalistic. Whenever a verse spoken by Mr. Doctor arrives, it is usually accompanied by a solo piano, strummed guitar, or a beautiful harp. Though it obviously takes patience and time to indulge in an album of this length and conceptual difficulty (I still struggle to understand some aspects), it works only when consumed as a whole. Finding the time to do that is up to you. If I had to pick apart my perfect score, I'd say that there are points where the album appears to take just a few moments too long in instrumental sections before resuming the narrative - however these niggles are really only applicable in the early stages of the album, as the lyrics pick up after the half hour mark. I really can't think of any way to slice or dice this album down from its massive length - and all in all I think this album deserves my wholehearted recommendation fully. For all fans of difficult, Gothic, conceptual and epic music, or music in general. It's really like nothing you've ever heard. (except maybe sacrilegium .)