Hell - Curse & Chapter
While Hell’s 2011 debut, Human Remains, was a tribute to the deceased founder of the band, David Halliday, Curse & Chapter marks a new phase. Human Remains featured only old material, and while the new lineup took some liberties with those songs, they were essentially faithful to the originals. Curse & Chapter shows Hell returning as a full-fledged band that wants to produce new and original music. I was initially wary of this because it’s always dicey when a group reunites without one of the core members. Most of the time, it’s a cash-in on a familiar name with the remaining guys either rehashing older material again or putting out new stuff that’s a pale shadow of classics. Curse & Chapter, though, shows that the band has the chops to be able to pull this off. The overdone theatrical nature of their music - especially David Bower’s vocals- might be off-putting to some, but the net result is that their songs are never boring or “same old shit” sounding. In a way, they’re kind of like a NWOBHM version of Cradle of Filth, complete with the atmospherics, blackened tongue-in-cheek lyrics and over the top delivery. The music on Curse & Chapter is still solidly in the realms of the melodic NWOBHM style, but the newer influences do stand out. Even when things get a bit “out there” in terms of the playing, they keep going back to that Metal foundation that grounds them. I enjoyed listening to this LP quite a bit, mostly because it expands on the older material and brings in some interesting new sounds. It’s never a dull moment with these guys. David Bower is a big part of that with his “William Shatner of Heavy Metal” style vocals. I can’t honestly say that there’s another singer like him. Likewise, Hell has a sound that is distinctly their own. If there’s any downside to this album, it’s that it doesn’t compare to seeing them live. I’ve watched clips of the band’s live show and it’s quite a spectacle. Once you see David Bower on stage dressed like Satan himself, and wielding a trident that sprays sparks all over the place, hearing the music without the visuals seems a tad bland in comparison. Still, this is a very entertaining record, and if you’re a fan of some good old-fashioned Heavy Metal, it is sure to satisfy you.
(0) Comment(s)
Page 1 of 1 pages