Review: The Devil Wears Nada – Postalgia

Eonian Records (May 23^rd, 2025)

Reviewer – Grant Foster

Formerly known as Adecence, The Devil Wears Nada hail from Falkoping, Sweden. The jaunty name change doesn’t really give away too much of what the band are like musically.

But being from Sweden, if you hazarded a guess and said melodic hard rock, you may very well be in the right ball park.

The album, ‘Postalgia‘, isn’t just a run of the mill AOR example however. It was originally released under the Adecence moniker and here has been remastered with the addition of two new studio tracks and a cover of Nestor’s ‘1989‘.

I find a little of this style can go a long way and recently the AOR Swedish invasion has bought a lot of bands who have roughly the same musical style.

The Devil Wears Nada are however, just different enough to not fall into the trap. The influences the band name check in their biography aren’t ones that I’m cognisant with, so, if you’ve heard of Da Vinci, 220 Volt and Alien, then you may have an inkling of what to expect.

As well as ‘fusing 80’s melodic rock with eerie theatrical flair.’

Got it?

Good!

Opener ‘Adecence‘ is a haunting stripped back number almost reminiscent of the Scorpions, albeit without vocals.

‘Patient Zero‘’s opening is grandiose and the keyboard hook is difficult to shift. Some of the vocal work is Boston-esque. 

‘Late Night Talking‘ is more straight ahead, but has a delicious vocal melody. No wonder it’s the lead single.

There’s hints of the Night Flight Orchestra on ‘Make Me Feel‘ and that’s a good thing. 

Just when you think you have the style all compartmentalised, ‘Someone Slightly Buried‘ has a thick, heavy riff and a ghostly call and response vocal, but with a sugar coated chorus.

‘Juliet‘ is pretty much AOR by numbers though and it’s the first track that doesn’t do it for me.

As is ‘Dear Marilyn‘, unfortunately. 

Ah, but next up is a killer tune, ‘The Devil Wears Nada‘. A pulsing bass line leads to the gold of the chorus. Touches of the NFO and a hint of Toto here for me and a definite highlight.

‘Infinity‘ is groove heavy and I mean intense heavy. Double bass drum triplets ago go. I can hear Alice Cooper at his ‘Trash’ era on this one.

Ever been in a monastery? ‘Prima Nocta‘ is the soundtrack to that experience. Without being funereal, it leans heavily on crunchy rhythms and piano melodies.

The light to the shade is ‘Til Death Do Us Part‘. An acoustic based  song with atmospheric keys and no vocals. But, it doesn’t lack for not having any.

‘1989‘ is the Nestor cover. I’ve not heard the original, so, I don’t have any pre conceptions. I’m not sure it adds anything only because the style that The Devil Wears Nada show on this release and this song aren’t quite in sync.

Final track, ‘Victim‘, has a retro melodic metal punch to it and is an upbeat end to proceedings.

I’ll be interested to hear the next album which apparently is ‘already in the works.’

The band definitely have that ‘something’ that could set them apart from the pack. Let’s hope their next batch of cooking sees them serve up a feast for a king. Or a devil, even.

Linus, Henrik, Jacob, Fredrik and Ludwig – I await your menu!

Track list:

1. Adecence  
2. Patient Zero
3. Late Night Talking  
4. Make Me Feel  
5. Someone Slightly Buried  
6. Juliet  
7. Dear Marilyn  
8. The Devil Wears Nada  
9. Infinity  
10. Prima Nocta
11. Til’ Death Do Us Part  
12. 1989  
13. Victim

Line-up:

Linus Johansson on Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals
Henrik Westergren on Rhythm & Lead Guitars, Backing Vocals, Synth Production
Jacob Werner on Keyboards, Lead guitars
Fredrik Svensson Carlström on Bass, Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals
Ludvig Alfvén on Drums, Acoustic Guitars, Backing Vocals, Synth Production

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