Hell In The Club are one of the most exciting bands of the modern hard rock movement, These guys started out as a side project formed by members of power metal bands Elvenking and Secret Sphere. Those members shared a mutual love of hard rock and out of that passion this band was born. Last year marked a full decade since Hell in the club released their debut album Let The Games Begin, To celebrate this milestone they have released Kamikaze – 10 years in the slums.
The band stated about this release: “We are relieved to finally be able to announce this EP. We thought it would have been nice to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of our first album “Let the Games Begin” by releasing something new. Not a new album, but something with which we could take stock of where we are now, ten years after we started our journey. So, together with Frontiers we planned this nice little EP that includes two brand new songs (“Kamikaze” and “10 Years in the Slums”), two cover songs (Alice Cooper and W.A.S.P.), and a reworked version of “In Your Eyes”, a track we love so much and that was released as a bonus track on the Japanese version of our first album. As for the covers, we chose “He’s Back” by Alice Cooper (already released as a special Halloween digital single treat) and “Chainsaw Charlie” by W.A.S.P., since we all agreed that “The Crimson Idol” is definitely one of our favorite albums ever. The plan was to release it exactly 10 years after the first album, so in 2021, but because of the prevalent situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the production process of vinyls underwent several disruptions, thus we were forced to postpone it again and again. Kamikaze (10 Years in the Slums) will be released on March 18, 2022 on all digital platforms and on June 20, 2022 on very limited edition vinyl plus as an ultra limited bundle which will include the vinyl, the cassette (yeah, back to the 80’s!), and other goodies. Thanks for sticking with us for the last ten years!” – HITC 2022
As is the case with many of the modern hard rock bands Hell In The Club’s sound is rooted in 80s rock but it’s not derivative of it, In fact they throw the occasional musical curve ball that you don’t see coming. The EP starts out with “Kamikaze” one of the current singles, an energetic rocker with energetic riffs and powerful vocals that will get you going, This song would fit seamlessly with the songs on their sophomore album Devil On My Shoulder.
They maintain that momentum with the other new track “10 Years In The Slums ” which functions as sort of a career recap, This track really shows off the punkier edge these guys frequently display that combines exceptionally well with their hard rock meets power metal sound. Cover songs are very hit and miss on average but it’s something Hell In The Club have historically done extremely well, In the case of their cover of Alice Cooper’s “Man Behind The Mask” they keep it true to the original while adding some extra hard rock punch to it, If you like the original you won’t be disappointed in what they’ve done with it.
One of my favorite albums ever is The Crimson Idol by W.A.S.P, Blackie Lawless is such an incredible singer and songwriter that if anyone is going to attempt to cover his band then you REALLY have to bring it. Hell In The Club does exactly that! Their cover of “Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue)” is excellent, It’s a very faithful rendition and pulls no punches in it’s delivery. The cutting riffs and blasting drums hit just as good as the original and Singer Dave Moras really brings the attitude necessary with his powerful vocals.
Every once in awhile bands release some truly great songs as bonus tracks, Very often in the case of Japanese editions of albums. The last song on the EP is a re – recorded version of a bonus track that appeared on the Japanese edition of their first album Let The Games Begin, The original version was a beautiful acoustic ballad that is the sort of song you might see a singer play solo in the middle of a concert. The new version enhances the original adding in piano and strings, plus a more elevated chorus, All of this raises the song to power ballad status and is a spectacular finish to a great EP.
For the limited edition physical copies of this EP check out Hell In The Club’s bandcamp page.
8/10