THE HELLFIRE CLAN - Hellbound (CD)

Pedal to the metal, fists in the air, heads down, no nonsense beer drenched hard rock ‘n roll! That’s the short description of Swedish newcomers’ The Hellfire Clan’s debut album. The Hellfire Clan could at times be easily mistaken for sleaze, but don’t be fooled. There are some brutal riffing, closer to Hellfueled or even Zakk Wylde coloured touches, going on. At times I even get a hint of Corabi-era Crüe. I think it’s the combination of the sleaze-oriented vocals and the detuned, crunchy guitars that brings it a bit between the boxes. I really like it, I must admit! The energy is really breathtaking at times and the songs are really well-arranged with some cool twists and turns. It’s by no means your straight ahead, no brains rock ‘n roll. I also do hear some hints of Hardcore Superstar, but this band takes it all to new levels. Highly recommended for fans of high octane, wall of guitar hard rock!
Janne Stark
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Label: private
Link: www.thehellfireclan.com

HELLSPRAY - Part Of The Solution (CD)

Jönköping’s Hellspray released their debut a couple of years ago, a really great melodic rocker. They are now back, armed to the teeth and with a new singer. Anders Moberg is more of a gritty rocker, which fits the bands down and dirty hard rock in a perfect way. At times he reminds me of Zakk Wylde, but with more finesse and a wider vocal range. There are some similarities with Black Label Society when it comes to opener Spinesless as well, but like with the vocals, there’s the variety and dynamics I sometimes miss in BLS. The adopt a pretty doomy aura in some tracks, such as Count Your Blessings, where the intro feels like the soundtrack to a nightmare. They however add a melodic feel which changes the picture as it moves on. In Mr Hyde the scene is totally different, almost moving into some high speed power metal territory with a neo-classical touch to the riffing. Interesting. Part Of The Solution is a really great follow-up to the debut, showing a band that has indeed taken their style and sound a step further. This is some heavy shit, man!
Janne Stark
Year: 2011
Label: Perris
Country: Sweden
Link: http://www.hellspray.com/

RAWBURT - Tropheus (CDR 7tr)

Rawburt is a pretty new Göteborg (Gothenburg) metal unit lead by former Human Race guitarist Robert Hansson. The band also features bass player Jörgen Raneström and drummer Jörgen Tjusling. On the first, outstanding, demo the vocals were handled by Björn Larsson (Two Rocks, Ride The Sky etc), but on this effort Robert has brought back his old Human Race colleague Stefano Marchesini. I really loved Björn’s vocals and was at first a bit worried how Stefan would fit this instalment, which is a bit more metal than his previous work with Robert. Well, after having heard the opening bass crusher In For The Kill, my worries were totally shattered. Stefano does a killer job! In the verse of second track Burning he actually reminds me a bit of Jorn Lande. Holy crap, that song has some devastatingly heavy riffs! The cool thing is that the verses are really smooth. I don’t know what band to really compare to, it’s more that Rawburt (not so convinced when it comes to the band name though…) has picked some bits and pieces from here and there. There’s a bit of Zakk Wylde in some guitar parts, some Jorn in other parts, a bit of Primal Fear in some more metal moments, a touch of Rammstein in one song, but there are also some parts I can’t really place. The songs aren’t complicated or extremely unique, BUT holy crap – they ROCK! The song material is top notch and in combination with the outstanding mix of Solan Gundersen (who?? – this guy should be a star!) this could be one hell of an album! So, my tip of the day – let Stefano re-record the vocals of the first tracks and release this as the album of the year! Yes, it IS that good! …and I want a ManDelKubb amplifier if they all sound this good!
Janne Stark
Label: private
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Link:http://www.rawburt.com

ZERO ILLUSIONS - Oblivion (CD)

I was actually quite blown away by this band’s first effort. The boys sure haven’t disappointed me this time around either. This is good! No, I take it back – this is bloody great! If Zakk Wylde and Biff Byford would ever team up (no I won’t say “and make a baby” coz that would sure be an ugly bastard) I think the result could very well be something like this. Musically Zero Illusions plays great sounding powerful and heavy metal with hints of classic Saxon metal, as well as the detuned Black Label/Ozzy style stuff with the pinched harmonics and all. These boys previously went under the name Pain And Passion and then had a slightly more melodic touch. I’m glad they changed, even though I did like their earlier work. When listening to crushingly heavy stuff like “Who You Are”, this is where it’s at! I’m quite surprised no bigger label has picked this band up yet. This is great stuff! It’s modern without selling out, it’s heavy without being cliché, it’s melodic without being wimpy. Besides sounding great, the song material is great. Great variation, no fillers, ready to be shipped out. Come and get it! This mother rocks!
Janne Stark

Label: private
Year: 2010
Country: Sweden
Website: http://www.zeroillusions.com