Hellbent and Hammered are representatives of quite a style – groove power metal (have you heard of that before? Well, now is the perfect opportunity to find out more). This quartet from London are here to surprise you and excite you with their quirky style. Groove power metal explained in a few words: imagine bluesy Pantera. Any luck? Well, give those guys a listen then and see for yourself.
The EP starts of with a track that gave album it’s title – “Death rattle”. “Death rattle” really sounds like… You guessed it! – Death rattle. Powerful guitar riffs, relentless drums all combined in a repetitive motion. Repetitive in a good way, in a way that puts the point across.
The relay is passed on to “Hung, drawn & Quartered”. Which sounds like. Oh no, not being hung, drawn and quartered? – I hear you ask. Well, actually it does. Another fierce and unstoppable track.
And that’s where we are in for a treat, guys from H&H have actually put up a little video about what are they up on a daily basis. Here is “All consuming”, check it out:
Finally, I get to speak of my favorite track from the album “Built that way”. It’s kind of selfestablishing, self-affirming hymn. It summons us to shake it all off, oppose to the fear, pick yourself the hell up and stand up for what you believe in. It’s quite inspirational. You can hear the singer …. chanting “I was built that way, I was built that way, I was built that way ..” I think the intention was to stress, no matter what is going on around you, even if “there is no salvation here”, stay yourself and keep going.
All the songs in the EP merge into one long warlike soundtrack. If they played music accompanying a battle, that would have to be “Death Rattle “ by Hellbent And Hammered. Or at least that’s where my imagination took me when listening to this album, the world of uncompromising judgement, struggle and courage. The album is raw, somewhat unfinished, but I see it as an intended trick. Like a truly priceless item of art, becomes more desirable when it seems uncompleted at a first glance.
Line Up
Giggs – Guitars
Ryan – Vocals
Jon – Bass
Burns – Drums
Track listing
Death rattle (explicit)
Hung, drawn & Quartered
All consuming
Built that way
Links
http://hellbentandhammered.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/techdrums1
https://twitter.com/hellbentvoodoo
Contact: fill out Contact form on the band’s website
Words by Veronica Kavaliova.
