Dinosaurdays - Diabolus

Diabolus - 1002 Nights, taken from their self-titled debut(?) album, recorded in London in 1972. We have to confess that we know s weet blow-all about this fantastic UK progressive quartet and that we can find no trace of them or any of the members in any of the reference books we have at our disposal, so they really are a "mystery" band in every sense of the word! The band members are John Hadfield on guitars and vocals, Anthony Hadfield on bass and vocals, Philip Howard on flute, saxes and keys, and Ellwood von Siebold on drums. The best description of this band's music is Audience meets Tonton Macoute, slightly jazzy with rock undertones. The musicianship is flawless and the production is very good. The album was released on CD on the rare Witch and Warlock label (CD's for the Chosen Few!), around about the mid nineties (they also released an early version of the said Tonton Macoute album, long before it was released by Repertoire, as well as other gems such as the ultra-rare Spectrum album). Diabolus is indeed a lost jewel in the progressive crown. When you hear this album, you'll be amazed that nobody's bothered to document anything about the band.