Skip to main content

Hell – Hell

Hell – Hell
Sentient Ruin Records – 2017

Hell, an aptly named and album given just how evil and malevolent they sound, is probably the best one-man act in doom metal this year. It's got some of the most effective riffs in the genre, paints an impressive and terrifying mental image, and has vocals reminiscent of the rawer side of black metal. MSV, sole member, describes the music as extreme funeral doom, and I'd be inclined to agree – I'd prefer to stay vague on the genre when there are so many influences. Death-doom and blackened doom both appear, as well as some more ambient elements, which all contribute to making this monster of an album a masterpiece.

Some riffs sound like what blunt trauma feels like, others are more somber, and some are straight up acoustic sections such as the bridge in Victus. Variety is what surprised me the most, as MSV shows he's up to the task of writing an interesting, full album without getting tunnel vision, as a single person. The album bids farewell with Seelenos, as an example, and sheds any relation to the rest of the songs and brings you on a sad operatic tour, as if we were revisiting the previous carnage in slow motion, madness becoming sadness and anger dissipating.

The guitar work is stellar, and while the riffs do err on the side of simplicity, they're also effective – and reinforced by the great attention brought to the tone. It's a rich texture of mids and bass, as you'd expect from anything doom-related, yet somehow it's got enough clarity for some blackened arpeggio sections to work. MSV's leads are worth mentioning, while they've got the same philosophy of simplicity as the riffs, they do evolve into epic wails which give Hell a grand, almost biblical aspect. The bass is also noticeable, as being mixed higher than usual and with a clicking tone. There are also flourishes here and there that keep you on your toes, as well as some dynamic slides, putting the oomph where it needs to be.


Production-wise, there are flaws that give Hell character, such as strange reverb use on the Machitikos solo or the tremolo effect on Inscriptus. These blemishes don't stop the album from being beautiful though, and while the album does suffer from brickwalling, it's got enough dynamics in the songwriting to keep me interested. The vocals are where an interesting stylistic choice was made, and it sounds as if there's a lot of gain on the microphone, to the point that I'd compare it to raw black metal. The last time I was this impressed by vocal timbre was when I found out about Anaal Nathrakh, and MSV isn't afraid to rip his throat out to deliver ear-piercing screams. There are no low-register vocals in the entire album, only harpies and lesser demons of noise – if I hadn't turned it down, I might have acute tinnitus by now.




Giuseppe Fitzsimmons

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sulphurous - Dolorous Death Knell

Sulphurous – Dolorous Death Knell December 2018 – Dark Descent Records 90s revival and cavernous death metal started gaining popularity about two years ago, with bands such as Phrenelith and Pissgrave being propelled into quasi-mainstream success thanks to a couple of public figures introducing their audiences to an otherwise relatively underground facet of death metal. Dark Descent Records have certainly capitalized on said revival, signing giants of the genre like Blood Incantation, Spectral Voice, and previously Chthe’ilist (and Mitochondrion to a certain degree). As with any other cavernous death metal record, the production is the first thing you’ll notice – it’s all suffocated, as if the amps were draped in thick curtains. Few effects and no triggers are applied to the drums, giving the whole package a very live/practice room aspect. Despite the apparent muddiness of Dolorous Death Knell, everything’s quite audible – even the lower registers somehow retain ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kataplexia – The Rise of the Unknown

Kataplexia – The Rise of the Unknown January 2019 – Rotten Music Kataplexia is Finland's best Indonesian brutal death metal band. You read that right, Indonesian is now a valid qualifier for brutal death metal. For those unaware, I explored and wrote about the Southeast Asian brutal death metal scene two years ago, discovering a gigantic scene with an uncharacteristic public acceptance. One of the members of Jasad began a side-project, Kaluman, which is the definition of high-quality Southeast Asian brutal death metal. A couple seconds into Kataplexia's latest, I expected to see Rottervore or Extreme Souls as their label, as every element pointed towards Indonesian origins – the tone, production, vocals, riffs and even album art all felt like Ferli Suferli (Jasad, Kaluman) was behind the project, yet Helsinki is listed as their base of operations. Admittedly, there's only so much one can actually say about the music without endless comparisons. A modern ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Phrenelith – Desolate Endscape

Phrenelith Desolate Endscape – 2017 Remember when the Internet went crazy for Pissgrave – Suicide Euphoria (Profound Lore Records) back in 2015 ? It's time for a new riot straight from the abyss, and the demon's name is Phrenelith. Born in 2013 in Copenhagen, Phrenelith started their career out with a split with Spectral Voice (Iron Bonehead, 2016), followed shortly by an EP (Chimaerian Offspring – Extremely Rotten Productions, 2017) and a masterpiece of an album, Desolate Endscape (Dark Descent Records, 2017). Desolate Endscape is the kind of album that reminds me why I like death metal – it's inherently primal , evil and intimidating. This record is a massive slab of death metal, dense and heavy and being thrown at your face. The fact that there's zero flourish or unnecessary technicality brings Phrenelith to the forefront of the cavemanesque caverncore scene that's been simmering for the past decade. The entire album drips with ichor, and while ...
Post a Comment
Read more