Band: King Hell Album: King Hell Label: 7th Level Records Rating: 6/10 Website: http://www.kinghellmetal.com BUY NOW!

King Hell hail from New York City. The band has labelled themselves "rhythm and bruise". The album certainly does have good rhythm, the bruise I assume replies to the aggressive side of metal. Each member of the band has a fictional profile about them. These include Doc Thompson who they claim is a criminal mastermind, Zigabot who is supposedly an escaped clone of the scientist Dr Funkenstein, Shille-Lee a martial arts expert pounding the drums with his fists of fury, Samwell with invincible powers of performance and Mofo on guitar, a man who saved Earth from an emperor who banned heavy metal. These profiles may prove entertaining live but have no real effect on the album. This seems to be one of the main failings of the album. From the photos on the sleeve notes and details on their website it sounds like they are really great fun live, but the album doesn't show this. A lot of the sense of humour does not quite work on recording. I imagine this is a band that is very much a visual spectacle and none of that can come across properly through a studio recording. The band has two male singers; Samwell and Doc Thompson. I've got to wonder at the need for two singers when the voices are not that different. As a result one of them is pretty much always relegated to backing vocals. However this does not really do the album any harm and is probably another part of the live show. The problems of the album aside it is quite good fun. The songs are catchy and there are some great funky rhythms on the album. The songs have a metal side to them mixed with rhythm and blues. The two vocalists sing with clear voices, so you can hear every lyric properly. The album opens with the track "what the fuck" a good funky number. The second track "the living dead" takes the pace down a bit with a repetitive riff going through the song. The main singer on this track shows off what range his is capable off. Lyrically it's all pretty nonsensical, but that doesn't really matter as it's more about the riffs than any sort of serious message. The third track "King Hell" starts off with a salesmen pitch explaining what King Hell can offer. The lyrics roll along nicely into each other with a chorus I imagine people join in on live. The fourth tack "shotgun" starts off with an aggressive intro before the pace slows into the song. The song is again catchy and has a good funky feel to it. The final song "assmaster" is a bit of a juvenile effort telling people to, "Hail the assmaster". It's not the best song on the album as it doesn't have the catchy riffs of the others, so finishes the album on a bit of a low. This album overall is not bad. It's just not that incredible either. The songs are really catchy, the songs are funky and it is good fun, but I don't reckon this recording quite manages to capture the band at there best. The production quality is not quite perfect and as already commented it sounds looks like they would be more fun as a live band than on a studio recording that has a bit of a flat feel to it. The album does not give enough energy to songs that are clearly meant to be performed to a lively crowd of people. I would happily go to see this band perform live if they toured. This album will make for good summer listening for BBQ and parties where you want something lively and fun, but you're unlikely to sit down and listen to it on your own. It just doesn't seem like the band has managed all they could on this album. Joshua Johnson http://www.myspace.com/children_of_the_sabbath Back to Reviews