Hell In The Club are in my personal opinion one of the best and most consistently great bands in the hard rock scene today, Their last album F.U.B.A.R was a fantastic record and following that up was always going to be a bit difficult.
A task made even more daunting when their singer Dave Moraz decided to step down and focus more on his primary band Elvenking, I think I speak for many fellow fans when I say that was a sad loss and it left the question to be asked of how they would replace such a unique vocalist.
To me, The best case scenario when replacing such a crucial part of a band’s identity is finding a singer who can both do the old material justice while also offering something new to pave the way forward.
That’s exactly what Hell In The Club have found with their new singer Tezzi Persson.
I’m going to admit up front I was skeptical when she was announced, Because when I looked her up she was listed as one of the singers in Venus 5 and I’m not a fan of that band. But then last year they released a new song (that sadly isn’t on this record) called “Carolina Reaper” and loved it, Suddenly I was really excited to hear a new album with her on vocals and she does a great job on this album.
If you were worried this band would sound radically different on this record then “The Devil Won’t Forget Me” dispels that concern immediately, This is exactly the sort of song Hell In The Club are known for. I could see this song fitting on their Devil On My Shoulders album. While I would say Tezzi offers her own vocal style there are times she sings in Dave’s style and I’d be surprised if fans aren’t sold on her vocals after hearing this song.
“New Desire” and “Dirty Love” keep the momentum going as serviceable rockers, But I feel fall a bit short of memorable in comparison to the rest of the album and honestly I would’ve swapped out either of these and put “Carolina Reaper” on this record instead.
“Robert The Doll” seems to be a divisive track among fans, After a few listens I actually really enjoy this song. It has a good flow to it in the music and vocals, This one feels like something different from this band and yet fits their sound. Tezzi’s vocals really shine on this track and the band’s playing is flawless here, Definitely a stand out track on the album.
“Fairytale” is another song that feels like this band doing what it does best, This one is second only to the first track for my favorite songs on the album. There’s a bit of melodic rock grandeur to this song, Everything about this song is top shelf.
“The Ocean” ventures into melodic rock power ballad territory with a dash of mid 2000’s radio pop rock, That last bit would make me cringe if it wasn’t for the fact that this is a very well written song and I’d be surprised if this didn’t end up a single.
“Magnetars” could fit well on their album See You On The Dark Side, This is an energetic mid tempo rocker with a great vocal line throughout.
One of my favorites on the album.
“Pretty Little Freakshow” starts out with an energetic folk melody before the grooving rock riffs kick in, I love the strut and swagger of this song. This is a song you can really move to, There’s almost a classic rock feel to the style of this track but man the time changes give a lot of variety to this song that keeps things exciting and it ends with a great guitar solo.
“Out In The Distance” starts with some great riffs before going melodic and allowing Tezzi to display more of her range, The chorus is great but it almost feels like it was lifted from another song. I enjoy this track but it feels a bit disjointed.
“When The Veil Of Night Falls” closes things out with a track I’d lump in with track two and three in that it’s not a bad song, It’s enjoyable to listen to and the playing is great but it’s just not one of the albums better moments.
Ok, So this album is honestly a mixed bag. When it’s really good it’s great, When it’s not great it’s just good.
7/10