As if touched by the hand of Satan himself, Dutch progressive rock wonders The Devil’s Blood have delivered an album that I believe will stand out as one of the most noteworthy this year.

Despite what you might think from seeing the pictures from the band’s blood-drenched live shows, ‘The Time of No Time Evermore’ is a marvellous collection of enchanting, catchy melodies, created on a solid foundation of late 60s, 70s and early 80s progressive rock and hardrock.

If you have already had the pleasure of listening to the single I’ll Be Your Ghost, you’ll have an idea. Light and accessible music, although everything is covered in an intricate web of guitars, woven by The Devil’s Blood mastermind SL. The topping on the musical cake is the insisting, oddly beautiful voice of female vocalist F.

I have a number of catalysts for the music I listen to. The three colleagues I share office with together form one of the catalysts. All three are male, two 30-somethings and one 40-something. Two Danes and one Australian.

If I can play the music I have for review at the office without hearing any grunts of discontent, I know the music has some sort of public appeal. They’re open-minded guys, got to hand them that, but I know by now that, even if they don’t really complain, it only takes a couple of Napalm Death or Deicide tunes to cause slightly disturbed frowns.

But ‘The Time of No Time Evermore’ has caused no frowns. And we listened to it quite a bit over the past couple of weeks. I was even urged to turn it up.

And I get questions like ‘That sounds like something I’ve heard before?’ for particular sections, and I go ‘Yeah, this sounds like Iron Maiden, and they go ‘Yeah, that’s it!’. And names like Santana, Black Sabbath and Rush get a mention too.

What I’m trying to say is that this album will be one that is bound to unite fans of many genres of not only metal but also rock – simply because that’s where a lot of us come from - and because The Devil’s Blood have put together a fantastic album!