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Hell In The Club: Devil On My Shoulder

Melodic Hard Rock/Metal

4.5/5.0

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Scarlet Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 30.10.2014

As baseball great, New York Mets coach, and tricky wordsmith Yogi Berra might say, 'It's deja vu all over again.' Hell In The Cell tosses you into their time machine, propels backwards in time, and drops you off on the Sunset Strip in 1987, hopefully only a few steps from The Whiskey.

Hell In The Club

Devil On My Shoulder, their second album, is fundamental melodic hard rock, with the edge of heavy metal, and the twist of LA sleaze. But that's been the band's intention from the start. And they're pretty darn good at it, too. Every song is big on melody, harmony, and groove with catchy hooks in both lyrics and arrangement. The rhythm section delivers a consistent rock groove and beat. Riffs bristle, and the solos soar. The vocal harmonies are smooth, and vocalist Davide 'Dave' Moras got some of that punk sneer necessary for this classic genre.

Within these fundamentals, Hell In The Club keeps the songs rather varied. Yet, you'll notice a relative quickness to most every song, again reminding of the spunk or speed borrowed from punk. Save Me, Toxic Love, and zooming Beware of the Candyman speed along. Alternatively, a song like Snowman Six or the title cut easily vary tempo within the song. There are a few anthems, We Are The Ones and No More Goodbyes, that move with a moderate pace and build upon riffs and vocal arrangements. Also, there's something of a ballad with Muse, again with a strong melodic vocal arrangement, but also some softer notes from acoustic guitar. It's a quite catchy tune. In the end, it's another strong effort from Hell In The Club, and there's much to be said for consistency mated with good songwriting and musicianship. Fine stuff, and easily recommended.

Hell In The Club - Proud

Hell In The Club - Bare Hands

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

Devil On My Shoulder, Hell In The Club's second album, is fundamental melodic hard rock, with the edge of heavy metal, and the twist of LA sleaze. And well done.

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Three years have passed since Sweden's Cruzh dropped their second long-player, Tropical Thunder, also introducing their new singer, Alex Waghorn. Now the band returns with The Jungle Revolution ... [ Read More ]