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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
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