“I’m not going to lie here; when I first saw A Nocturnal Crossing, the second album by French doommakers Deathbell, listed in our promo pick-up software, my brain autocorrected the title into Animal Crossing. From that moment, I wondered to myself what it would be like to have a concept doom album where our hapless main (unnamed) character would strike a deal with The Devil, selling his soul for bells while interacting with damned-but-adorable lost animal souls while trying to cross the River Styx on a dragon boat powered by Blathers the Owl.” Hell bells.
