Well, here we have the second album from this young Swedish four-piece, and a cool, pretty melodic version of Thrash Metal with lots of attitude, is what is this release gives us.
Let it be said right away: if you don't like bands that live up to the old school, traditional (cliché) images of a Heavy Metal band, with rather simple lyrics, occult gimmicks, lots of spikes, leather and blood, etc., you won't like this!
Raise Hell is the archetype of Rock'N'Roll attitude, and I think a lot of this album's quality lies within the charm of this!
Starting off with
Dance With The Devil, the band gives full throttle from point one! A groovy, midtempo Thrash piece with screaming vocals and lots of energy is what starts the party. Though the songstructure must be characterized as pretty simple, the song has some nice temposhifts and some very melodic and nice guitarwork, which adds the needed variation to make this song stand out as a great opener!
The more or less serious
Babes follow, and introduce us to the bands love for lyrics dealing with girls, sex and desire. A very memorable chorus and a solid bass/drum fundament and some very intense snarling are the strong points in this cool song!
The rather short
Back Attack shows
Raise Hell slowing down a bit. Pretty slow, and the vocal style is toned down from the usual screams, actually this song shows the most variation in the singing as
Jonas Nilsson sings both in the "clean" way and screams during the fast parts. The duelling between main vocals and background screams is also a nice feature.
Devilyn is what comes closest to a ballad on this record, very slow and melodic, with a rather melancholic feeling, relying heavily on the guitarwork and catchy chorus. The kind of song that sticks in your ear once you've heard it just once or twice. Excellent!
The titletrack has a very catchy short guitar riff, which is repeated throughout the song. Otherwise a hard and fast tune, Thrashy and raw while still maintaining the melodic edge!
No Pulse probably has the strangest lyrics I've seen in a long while, something about being attracted to some kind of transport mixed with stuff about an evil clown? I believe it's inspired by Steven King's It. The song itself rocks pretty good and has a nice groovy feeling to it.
Next up is
User Of Poison, about the ups and downs of having fun with alcohol and getting drunk! It's a very rhythmic track and has a great chorus which leads into a faster part and then again slowing down. It surely rocks and is very catchy!
He Is Coming is a short intro taking us to the last song,
The Soulcollector. The shouted chorus and groovy rhythm together with the raw vocals make for a worthy end to a cool record!
It's hard to describe
Raise Hell's style with one word. It's clearly dominated mostly by Thrash elements, but also things from old school Rock'n'Roll as well as Punk can be found. The overall sound has a very melodic approach, which is actually what separates
Raise Hell from a lot of other Thrash acts and make them have a sound of their own. Inspirations from
In Flames and other Melodeath outfits are clear, and the album is also produced by
Anders Fridén (singer/guitarist of
In Flames).
The reason I really like this album is, apart from the abovementioned own sound of the band, the energy and enthusiasm, which is carried out in the making of the songs! It simply has a charming, intense feeling to it, and is performed with musical skill and a lot of nerve!
The backside for some people is probably that they would find the image and lyrics of the band to be just too over the top clichéd.
I'd recommend
Not Dead Yet to all lovers of groovy Thrash with a healthy dose of melody and some very nice guitarwork!
Written by
Nina Sunday, July 27, 2003
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