The Band

We’re rolling into another rerelease today with Even Deatheaters Need Love (with bonus tracks) by Bella and the Deatheaters! Originally released on August 17, 2007, the rerelease occurred on November 20, 2020. This album, originally released as an EP, now includes four early singles by the band that never ended up on an album: a new version of “Become a Deatheater,” “Book 7 Blues,” “Potions Master,” and “Pure Misery.”

I had the pleasure of asking Emy (the voice and guitar of the band) a little bit of her history, and this was her response:

“… when I discovered anyone at any ability could create wizrock legitimately and play music, I could live my punk rock fantasy and have a fun while doing it. I started uploading my songs on MySpace, because I wanted to join in and share my work and I was proud of it back then, I also got to meet a lot of cool people here in the UK who loved Harry Potter which in 2006/7 was rare as it was still seen as just a kid’s book. I got to perform at the midnight launch for Deathly Hallows, and the first Potter Rocks and meet all my fellow Potter heads in person.”

I especially love what she said about how anyone at any ability level can create meaningful wizard rock – it’s true!

The Tracks

Azkaban Lullaby is first up, starting off with some beautiful guitar fingerpicking. This song gives me a lot of melancholy missing summer vibes. Bella sings of things that you cannot find in Azkaban – sunshine, love, and freedom. I love how sweet this song is, and the vocals are beautiful as well.

Stronger vocals and instrumentals are the foundation of the next song, Bookish Dream, which is from the point of view of Hermione. She sings about how she wants to believe that Ron loves her as well, and that they will have a future together. The chorus is sure to get stuck in my head, and I’m not going to complain! The song ends with a IV chord transitioning to a I chord, which is one of my personal favorite ways to end a song.

Bellatrix Lestrange introduces us to the next song, DeathEater. If you don’t want to get hexed or cursed, you better run away from this Death Eater. With a percussive backtrack, the sound is very different from what we’ve heard so far. The vocals reflect Bellatrix’s voice, which is strong and smug. You can even hear the smirk in her voice.

We go back to a guitar instrumental in Slytherin’s Lament. This song tells of how hard it can be to be in Slytherin – everyone assumes you are a bad person, that your family is full of Death Eaters, and that you love Snape and Malfoy. I appreciate the lyrics in this song because I believe that a lot of Slytherins get a bad rep even though they haven’t done anything wrong.

Poor Pureblood comes in at 12 seconds long: “Being pureblood ain’t so great, but it’s not like I’m whining and booing. All I’m saying is your parents met at Hogwarts and mine met at a family reunion.”

The next song is the namesake of the album, Even Death Eaters Need Love. With a set of two vocals now instead of one, the overlapping voices lend a fun and silly tone to this song.

Have you ever wondered about what it would be like to Become a Death Eater? Did you know that Death Eaters get great healthcare and free bumper stickers for their brooms? Find out all about the benefits of being a Death Eater in this song! (I really loved this one. It almost convinced me to sign up!)

Potions Master has an upbeat and catchy tempo. If you know anyone who loves Professor Snape, they will surely be able to relate to this song. (Just be sure to warn them about the middle of the song, where we find out that he has smelly armpits!)

It seems like such a long time ago that we were all eagerly awaiting the release of Deathly Hallows. Book 7 Blues brings us back to those days. Bellatrix sings about all of her questions – what’s gonna happen in Book 7? Will Neville be the one to do her in? Maybe she doesn’t want to know… I appreciated the meta lyrics in this song.

“If he isn’t on the family tree, he isn’t the one for you” is just one of my favorite lines in Pure Misery. The song is in a minor key (which I love) and sings about what life is like when you have to marry within a pureblood family line.

Become a Death Eater makes a reappearance with a newer version! The recording is cleaner with this update, and adds some excellent harmonies.

In Summary

This album was an absolute pleasure to listen to. I highly enjoyed listening to the point of view of Bellatrix. It makes for excellent song content! The lyrics, instrumentals, vocals, and harmonies were all really lovely. I give this album 99/99 Death Eaters!