Hellsongs - Songs in The Key of 666
Despotz Records
"Lounge Metal"/Acoustic Covers
10 songs ()
Release year: 2008
Despotz Records
Reviewed by Jaime
Archive review
There's something to be said about metal and its love for cover songs. Some take the form of tributes to other metal bands and the masses of compilation albums that surface filled with them, others can be a metal twist on something outside the genre like a certain ABBA tribute album. Just what about the other way around? What about a non-metal band covering metal songs? It's somewhat less common, but Swedish trio Hellsongs have decided to take a rather unique spin on a few classic tracks with what they dub “Lounge Metal”. Kicking things off with The Trooper, what was a charging battle anthem has been turned into a fairly subdued, reflective piece that loses none of its power, converting it that raw blistering power into a melancholic requiem. Harriet Ohlsson’s wispy voice carries the song wonderfully, with the strings adding that extra dimension in the way that they do. They have their way with Run To The Hills as well, with the Rhodes and synth in the background giving it a bit of an 80’s ballad vibe, though nowhere near as cheesy or over the top as anything that era produced. Add into the mix their stunning version of Paranoid, which has elements of a slow jazz number that’s just dripping with emotion, and you can see that this is a band that have deep respect for the original tracks with the way that they’ve recreated them. To be honest I prefer this to the original.

It’s not all weepy and dreary however. Their take on Symphony of Destruction reminds me of an acoustic Scissor Sisters song of all things with its upbeat bounce and the piano being rather disco like and the entire thing being very... danceable. Not that Megadeth are alone there, naturally Metallica get a similar treatment with a reimagining of Blackened that morphs it into a little acoustic pop ditty. Dave Mustaine just can’t get away from them it seems. Slayer don’t get left out either with Seasons in The Abyss being turned into something akin to a soundtrack with a rather amusingly happy chorus given the nature of the lyrics. We’re Not Gonna Take It also works well as a little folk protest song as it turns out.

As I said above, this band isn’t simply a tongue-in-cheek stab at metal. Hellsongs understand the songs and are clearly fans of the bands that they’re paying tribute to and listening to what is a very imaginative reworking of some classic tracks instead of your standard metal band covering metal band but slightly faster/with growls/with breakdown/etc.. The performances are all excellent here, restrained in some like The Trooper, grandiose in others such as Seasons of the Abyss and Princess of The Night but all together wonderful. If you’re a fan of any of the bands here and have an open mind (the absurd vitriol that haunts the comments on some of the band’s songs on Youtube is absurd and highlights the sheer bullheaded ignorance that drags down and plagues the metal fanbase) then you owe it to yourself to have a listen. You might not like what you hear, but you’ll be impressed.
Killing Songs :
The lot are worth listening to really
Jaime quoted no quote
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There are 4 replies to this review. Last one on Tue Feb 22, 2011 6:57 am
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