Deal With It
How does one describe The Hell? Bangers and Mosh. You'll likely see them slated across various different media outlets for being a 'joke', but whilst fundamentally they are a band who like to royally take the piss, it doesn't make their music any less good. The hardcore scene in the UK is in the midst of a real high at the moment, and whilst not always appearing as a scene that could take itself anything less than 'I WANT TO SMASH YOUR FACE IN' serious, The Hell bring a refreshing dose of humour. Steel Panther are a joke that has gone too far, The Hell are only beginning to muck around with theirs.
Groovehammer is the first full album from The Hell to be released through Prosthetic Records and at its core all the way through is well.... groove! The band performed at this years Sonisphere on the eve of the release of this record, and from that show it is clear that this band write music for the live environment. They sound good on record, but these are all pretty much tracks to lose your mind to live. Take Me Out and Old Jacks/New Jacks is a strong start to the album, but things really pick up with Everybody Dies and the superbly titled Bangers & Mosh which house bouncy, heavy riffs and ridiculous chant-along lyrics. We Love Dicks is itself an excellent attack on the over the top macho nature of Hardcore. Perhaps the clearest drawback is the fact that some tracks could definitely have been culled, or at the least kept back for future EP releases, to make it a more concise beast.
The Hell are not re-inventing the wheel, although they may well claim they are, but this is an album full of heavy, groove laden tracks via snarling streams of anger. If you've got an issue with swearing in lyrics then you're not going to enjoy The Hell. If you don't care either way then this is well worth picking up. If you've ever wondered what a party Hardcore album would sound like, Groovehammer will help you out a bit.