This Is Hell – Sundowning

I remember about a year ago at school, Bobby handed me a bunch of cd’s he wanted reviewed, I was lucky enough to be given This Is Hell‘s first cd. Ever since I’ve been anticipating their next album, which in this case happens to be Sundowning. After changing labels, not much else seems to have changed about This Is Hell, they still sound great. They sound even better after reviewing numerous cd’s that I really didn’t like as well. It really gives me pleasure to review a hardcore band for once, as opposed to shitty faux-emo bullshit that’s circulating all over the place. The vocalist has a pretty unique voice, there’s not many other bands that I listen to that even sound remotely like it. They have the group chant to accompany the vocals as well, which are always a welcome addition to a hardcore band. The guitarists use a lot of palm mute, but in the background you can hear the lead guitarist playing fancy riffs and high notes. There’s some breakdowns, but minimum chug, which gets old quickly. The bass can always be heard going in the background, its nothing too special though. Oddly enough, that’s the way I felt about the drumming as well, I didn’t start listening for it as soon as I usually do. But I almost always must respect a drummer, since they have infinitely more coordination than myself to be able to play the drums, nonetheless in a good band. So, instrumentally, the band is very sound, but they are much like many other hardcore bands around right now. They actually sound a lot like Betrayed, except the Betrayed songs I compared them to had way more distortion on their instruments. The lyrics This Is Hell wrote are pretty good, they seem to be more about personal tribulations encountered, as opposed to songs about broken hearts which I have grown to hate so much.

If this album had not been sent to me, I most likely would have bought it, I suggest that anyone in need of some new hardcore music should do the same. I can think of other bands that I would check out just as readily, but This Is Hell has never let me down. Hopefully their music won’t take any turns for the worst, because this was a great cd. It’s shame that it’s been lying idle on my computer desk so long waiting to be reviewed, but I figured I might as well get a whole bunch of crappy cd’s out of the way first. But I digress, check these guys out and give them a chance, they shouldn’t disappoint.