Customer Reviews

Neon Handshake

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3 star:		(3)
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West London boys 'Hell is for Heroes' arrive with the much-anticipated album to follow up recent forays into the single market and their extensive tour of the UK. On the whole it's heavy, very heavy, but with a dash of melody here, a smidgen of harmony there it all mashes together to become quite a rockin' and enjoyable LP. Most of the songs are the riff laden rock bastards that you would expect from a debut album, although a few do delve into more sophisticated waters with complex studio effects and arrangements.

The album kicks off with 'Five Kids Go', driven along by swirling distorted guitars and introducing Justin Schlosberg's throaty vocals. Breaking up the song are a few clean reverb induced breakdowns repeated also in the next track 'Out of Sight'. The formula stays pretty much the same leading nicely into last autumns #38 single 'Night Vision'. Self admittedly this effort is just about HifH's most melody driven song and even drifts towards US pop punk before Will's guitar roughs things back up in the good old British way.

'Cut Down' and 'Three of Clubs' are all similar in style, described by HifH's themselves as 'muscular riff-heavy rock tunes'. Muscular they certainly are pounding chord after chord through overloaded pickups and amps with a bit of solo work here and there. All of the choruses provide real foot stomping hands in the air moments thanks to the atmospheric guitar work and Schlosberg's seemingly effortless ability to churn out screaming vocals without wavering in any noticeable way. 'Few Against Many' does though seem to be a little more complex in its structure than the other two and on the whole more polished as a recording rather than just being a live stormer put straight onto CD. The twisted bridge segments and anthemic chorus make this one of the better songs on the LP.

'I Can Climb Mountains' continues the assault on the ear moving from muted guitar bliss to churning guitar choruses very much instilling itself in the subconscious, and rightly so, another anthem to get the masses moving. 'Disconnector' comes across slightly weaker than most of the songs on the LP, sticking mainly to the trusted formula but lacking any dynamism on a recorded format. Last single 'You Drove Me To It' is an obvious riff induced stormer and nicely rounds up the anthems of the album before the last three songs close in a slightly different direction.

'Slow Song' pretty much describes itself with just guitar and mellow vox, drums on the three-minute mark, and a baffling mess of distortion eventually kicking in to ruin a good "slow" and mellow number. Schlosberg's pleading vocals almost rescue the song but it seems that perhaps this is one track that could have done without the trademark metal powered overdriven sound. 'Sick Happy' and 'Retreat' both finish off the album nicely with the former being a "sign that Hell is for Heroes' music will keep changing, developing". There does in general seem to be signs of development within the album itself, some songs being written purely with live energy in mind while others have clearly been tweaked in the studio.

Seph

My sister lived in London for 3 years and I was there frequently. I happened to see Hell is for Heroes at a show about 2 years ago, playing the stuff they are just releasing now...They rocked, I was hooked ever since I heard them and have been waiting forever for the finished CD!! Straight up rock with the some british attitude, these guys kick it to ya....If you ever get to see them live, they put on one of the most energetic shows I have ever seen....

The best of British for a long time, this album has a line up of tracks which could be played over and over without you getting bored. Its well worth the money especialy with tracks like 'i can climb moutains' and 'nightvision'. The music is catchy and poweful, it will blow you away.

When I heared that my favorite band Trail of Dead appeared in their video I was interested in hearing some of Hell is for Heroes. I did not regret that day, for it certainly is a great CD they made.

Their music is mostly aggressive and playing the first song of the CD gives you an instant adrenaline rush. Most of the songs follow the high quality of Five Kids Go and there are only 2 weaker songs on the Album. It's one of the rare Cd's I can listen to for hours...

The most exiting debut album I have heard since Definitely Maybe. The first 6 tracks are in the nu-metal vein with pounding rhythms and walls of guitars coming at you like a great tidal wave, sweeping all emotions in front of it. Yet, the use of melody and softer passages lifts this way above your average heavy metal. Later tracks have the angsty feel of indie with vocals that snare you and pull you in. It plays well alongside The Foo Fighters, Red hot Chili Peppers, and Radiohead, which gives you some idea of the maturity and complexity of the work.

A good debut album but NOT as great as a rather over-enthused and noisy fan-base would have you believe. Three good tracks, the rest much the same as a hundred other bands doing the same thing.