Hellfire

review + 300 follower special

The talent dripping from this album is immeasurable. I couldn’t even name all the instruments being played quite honestly, but then being played the way they’re being played, sometimes at the pace they’re being played, is jaw dropping. These dense cacophonous instrumentals, paired up with Geordie Greep’s 1920’s sailor tone, get chaotic and fun as soon as you press play on the album. There’s a sleek, movie-quality sense of theatrics to this record, which is well displayed on the very first track Hellfire. A lot of these tracks keep that intense movie feel while also blending it with brutal and intense layers of instruments, so there’s never quite that much air to breathe. This is in a good way, as that can often be the thrill of this record.

Lyrically this album has a clear concept, and while after four listens I don’t know the full thing, I still can gather these bits and fragments from the cathartic and bullet-pace wreck. It’s very poetic at times and written extremely well, unlike that other band who tried to do this kinda sound but with way worse vocals and lyrics. Yes, nothing about WiFi and Billie Eilish is brought up here. Thankfully. Anyways, the cuts where the band’s other singer Cameron Piston takes over (Eat Men Eat, Still) are phenomenal cuts on the album, and it’s no jarring switch up when he suddenly hops on the mic. The track Still is way more calm and collected vibe, rather than the spastic and sporadic energy of the first four cuts. It seems to be a sampler of what the end of the record contains.

The last chunk of the record (the last three songs) are all much more mellow cuts, especially after the glitchy and odd interlude Half Time, and one of the most chaos-fueled tracks on the record The Race Is About To Begin. It’s a nice little send off, though I should clarify the first half of 27 Questions is a little chaotic, but the second half is very relaxing and soothing, so I’d say it counts in that right. It’s a bit surprising that all of these different tracks work so well together, but I think the small thirty eight minute runtime makes this a lot more fun and enjoyable (unlike another experimental rock album that came out this year eh-hehm). The four track run at the start of the album is so incredibly solid, too. That doesn’t mean the first four tracks are the only great songs, as I think every song on here is at least great. This is a sort of transcendent record, that is so chaotic and nuts that it’s right up my alley. The Bungle influence is strong too, so how I could I not like this?

Favorite Tracks: All

Okay Tracks: None

Least Favorite Tracks: None

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300 Follower Mini-Party

Woah. We hit another milestone! Last time we had one of those was like a year ago with the glaive EP review. Wild. Regardless, I really appreciate the support I’ve been seeing on my reviews. We hit three of my highest liked reviews ever this year. That’s insane to me. For things to come, I’m working on a Gel. ep, then I’m gonna go on hiatus with Gel. to work on one huge project. I’ve also got my long-winded Mike Patton discography dive for you to keep up with. I’ve got my own podcast that I’ll link below. Might post some movie reviews on Letterboxed this year. There’s still a lot for me to do and I hope we only get bigger and bigger.

But to give some thanks I wanna thank Elitimesfour, JustSomeGuy, TomBejoy, Mike Patton, and anyone else who inspires me. That’s about it. Thank you! (And thank you to anyone else who’s been supporting me awhile. And a big thanks to the actually good reviewers on here who come out with consistent ass reviews and don’t rely on shitposts).

Thanks. I’ll see ya.

Podcast: https://youtube.com/channel/UCaUug0MrGErQY6fshXbC2Sw