This Is Hell – Black Mass

Over the years hardcore has become as vague of a descriptor of sound as punk or indie. Bands as diverse as 80s straight edge band Minor Threat, 90s metal crossover thugs Hatebreed and Christian screamers Underoath have all been dubbed hardcore. Many bands have made a name for themselves by blending hardcore with other genres, but This is Hell began in 2004 as a loud, fast hardcore band and have remained relatively true to that formula thus far.

On the heels of the success of numerous crossover releases from bands like Throwdown and Comeback Kid, This is Hell have taken a giant step towards infusing metal into their hardcore sound. It would be nice to say that it works for them. It would even be nice to say that it doesn’t completely fail, but in reality Black Mass is simply a black mess, full of angry lyrics and metal cheese.

Those who are not already familiar with the band may find something to like in the album, which is occasionally reminiscent of Pantera or Throwdown. But hardcore purists will likely be offended by the ridiculous guitar solo on The Wars: Part One or the gruff throated singing over thrash of The Reckoning. To be fair, there are some bright spots on the album, such as the New York hardcore sound of Black History, but they are too rare to make the album worth picking up.
The biggest disappointment of Black Mass is the fact that This is Hell have released some great music in the past. Only the band members themselves can know if they were consciously chasing trends, but the album fails because of the addition of cheesy metal into their sound, completely emasculating the former hardcore band.