Band: As Diabatz
Album title: Riding Through The Devil’s Hill
Label: Drunkabilly
Distributor: Music Shock - Suburban
Release date: March 2009
Release: CD

Curitiba (Paraña province, South Brazil) based trio As Diabatz was formed in 2006, when lead singer/ guitarist Baby Rebbel (then only 17, she’s actually the “senior” in the band when it comes to live experiences, As Diabatz being her 4th band), stand-up bass player/ backing singer Claudia Smith (then 22, she was a first timer to the music scene), and drummer/ backing singer Clau Sweet Zombie (then 18, had played in one other band before, now also plays with Hot Rods) felt it was about time the Brazilian Psychobilly scene got itself its first all-female band!

With influences from such ‘80s bands as Torment, Ricochets, Krewmen, Sharks, Meteors, Batmobile, Caravans, Guano Batz, Coffin Nails, and of course UK’s short-lived all-female cult act Dypsomaniaxe, As Diabatz (taking their name from a combination of Portuguese and English, it translates to something close to “devil dancers”), the girls secluded themselves in a rehearsal room to develop their own take on the classic sounds of Psychobilly, only to surface in November 2007 for a first gig! I guess their 4-track Witches Stomp EP was released around the same time. Living in Curitiba (also the hometown of oldies Frantic Flinstones, even if there’s no mention of these scene classics in the bio of As Diabatz), possibilities for live performances were rather limited (live activities concentrated mainly on big festivals, and in the case of Psychobilly, there’s only Psychobilly Fest and Psycho Carnival – the latter at which the girls played their 3rd gig in February 2008).

I’m not sure whether the situation is still the same, but in early Summer 2008 Baby Rebbel apparently relocated to Rotterdam. Which didn’t split up the band, as they clearly still exist in their original line-up. In June 2008, the girls played at the Psychobilly Meeting in Spain’s Piñeda De Mar. Later in 2008, the girls convened in Rotterdam to record their album with scene veteran Marc Burger (drummer for 69Beavershot and Triple Dynamite, for instance).

Also re-recording the songs off their Witches Stomp EP, the album only offers a total of 10 songs for a playing time just under 24 minutes, but each and every track is a hit in the Psychobilly genre! I mean, the girls’ take is a really fresh one, with a sound which is at once as authentic as possible (Baby apparently playing a vintage guitar with equally vintage amplification equipment, concentrating her style on one which prefers the playing of notes above chords…Claudia obviously amplifying the feel with her stand-up bass…and Clau adding to that with her typical play, which includes the style that has the drummer using her sticks on the side of the drums for special effect)…quite uncannily authentic even! You can check out a couple (5, actually) of song samples at myspace.com/asdiabatz. My only critical comment being that perhaps the other girls might bring in some more backing vocals to bring a broader variety! Still, I lóve this, and so will my 69 year-old father (who’s a Rock ‘n’ Roll buff) when I get him to sit down and listen to this!!!

92/100

Tony.