HANG THE BASTARD – HELLFIRE REIGN

Before we get into the guts of this review, I would ask you to first listen to this piece of music:

Apologies for the creepy looking dude on the video, but you get the point, and I’m sure a lot of you have seen A Clockwork Orange and can imagine the ominous nature and menace with which this piece of music is associated. Now imagine that about a minute into that music, rather than the continuing eery synth, RIFFS kick in, and you’ll be close to imagining how the intro track “Acid Bath Vampire” to this, Hang The Bastard’s debut full length, brings the record kicking and screaming into existence. With a synth track from Rolo Tomassi’s James Spence, this initially seems like a departure from the stoned jams of Raw Sorcery, but further listening brings back all the elements of HTB that garnered so much interest in the first place. They’ve retained the awesome guitar tone that made me bang my head to Raw Sorcery and the split with Abolition they did earlier this year, along with the breakneck riffing speed – demonstrated here throughout, but particularly on second track “The Blackest Eyes”. What they’ve added however, is plenty more over the top guitar solos, making parts of this record a much more metal affair. Having said that, there are plenty of mosh parts to keep hardcore fans happy – even the ending on the aforementioned Blackest Eyes is bound to get people moving with its chants of HELLFIRE REIGN. Rad.
More synths between tracks make for an interesting addition, and really do create an air of menace, along with making the transitions between tracks much more effective. Fourth track “Genesis” draws interesting parallels with “Oblivion” from Raw Sorcery, with an epic shredding ending, but the fact that the band can put it halfway through the record and still have corkers to come is a testament to the album. “Snakecharmers” is perhaps my personal favourite moment of the record, part Down, part Cancer Bats (fuck the haters, they got riffs too you know) and part Entombed. Awesome.
What this record does best is successfully combine so many different genres in a completely non-haphazard way – it’s equal parts metal, thrash, hardcore, doom with a side of stoned haze, and as such will appeal to an absolute ton of individuals. The finishing sucker punch of “Goodbye Piccadilly” and “Farewell Leicester Square” bring the album to a close in pretty epic style, and set the way for another fantastic british band to gain the respect they deserve. A definite contender for top 10 of the year!

Download: “Snakecharmers”
FFO: Down, Entombed, RIFFS

http://holyroarrecords.com/album.php?id=421
http://www.myspace.com/hangthebastardlondon

words – Luke McGuire