Hollywood Black Confront Their Inner Devils On New EP

​We hate to teabag your macaroni, but sometimes music is just a paycheck to the people here at Rocks Off.

This is not one of those times.

As your humble narrator cast about the Internet in search of things to write about, he came across Hollywood Black and tonight's show celebrating the band's third release on Mia Kat Empire Records, an EP called Devils That We Are. Thinking that we would just fire off a few questions, lay down some nonsequiturs, and misuse the word "awesome," we fired off a request for an advance copy.

What we got may be one of the finest EPs ever to grace Houston.

To be sure, the EP format has gone through a real renaissance in town, starting several years back with Million Year Dance, and continuing recently with Lotus Effect's Rabbits and Royalty and a host of others. Devils That We Are deserves to stand toe to toe with even the finest short works this year.

​The album is a little tricky. The opening being overly harsh and needlessly heavy, giving listeners the impression that they've stumbled onto another cuddly hardcore act. However, as the disc progresses, an amazing depth of lyrical talent and musical accomplishment becomes more and more apparent. This is a band utterly unafraid of defying conventions, be they chord progressions or lyrical meters.

The overall message is a throbbing reminder of the inherent failings of ethics and intentions within the hearts of men. Whether the demons of greed, lust and pride are being howled from the top of Ben Ellis' voice, or murmured in the low growl of his incredible bass lines, it comes through loud and clear. We are all of us damned.

The album features several impressive guest performers, most notably Sean Spiller of recent HPMA nominee The Manichean playing a Hammond organ on Track 4, "Everybody Has Their Bad Days Pt. 2." The two "Bad Days" tracks are really the standout pieces on an already standout EP. The songs speak of the rise and fall of two preachers who are eventually eaten alive by their own hypocrisy and sin.

Hollywood Black, "Everybody Has Their Bad Days Pt. 1"

This is not an album for the light of heart, but if you have the Balzac to face down demons, then we guarantee you will love Devils That We Are. Earlier this week, Rocks Off had a chance to sit down with Ben Ellis and talk about Devils.

Rocks Off: Would you say that the message of the EP is that the pressures of everyday life, particularly those of a successful man, are what drive us to evil, or that it is already inherent within us, and therefore inescapable?

Ben Ellis: I do believe that we cannot avoid doing evil. I don't really think it has to do with someone's level of success or even everyday pressures. I think that in secret we just want to gratify ourselves no matter how it affects others. Unfortunately, we are born into it.