HELL IN THE CLUB
“HELL OF FAME”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Hell In The Club are a hard rock band from Italy formed in 2009, releasing their debut album ‘Let The Games Begin’ in 2011. Three more albums followed in quick succession – ‘Devil On My Shoulder’ (2014), ‘Shadow Of The Monster’ (2016), and ‘See You On The Dark Side’ (2017) – with the bands fifth release ‘Hell Of Fame’, emerging in 2020.

Formed by Andrea Buratto (Secret Sphere), Davide Moras (Elvenking), and Andrea Piccardi – Hell In The Club features a classic hard rock sound that was prominent during the mid to late eighties, when bands such as Motley Crue, Faster Pussycat and Ratt were leading the way. The bands fifth album is eleven hard rocking songs rammed into a forty four minute play time, blending AOR melodies and just a touch of the traditional heavy metal sound. Getting us underway, is the up tempo and highly energetic party anthem ‘We’ll Never Leave The Castle’. Hell In The Club may not sound like the name for a rock band – but it is! And they are… ‘We’ll Never Leave The Castle’ is a sit up and take notice opener, full of infectious melodies that scream “listen to me” – and listen you will. ‘Worst Case Scenario’ takes the party anthem feel to a much higher level – rocking harder and heavier than ‘We’ll Never Leave The Castle’. The chorus is sing a long able and believe me when I say you’ll be singing along in next to no time – and yes, it really is that infectious!

‘Here today, Gone Tomorrow’ picks up the pace and steams on – highly reminiscent of (early) Motley Crue – when metal tinged hard rock was all the rage. Nowadays there are just way too many sub genres – back in the eighties there was just metal and rock, with a great big void between for bands that played both metal and rock. This void was filled with bands such as Motley Crue – and it’s also where you’ll find Hell In The Club. One of the albums most melodic metal/rock songs is ‘Joker’, all heavy hitting and highly addictive. The chorus is one of those highly anticipated crowd sing a long moments – and it’s gonna be wild. ‘Last Of An Undying Kind’ rumbles forth like rolling thunder, raining down droplets of the hardest hitting hard rock around. A little rougher and tougher than anything heard so far, ‘Last Of An Undying Kind’ does come across as a little menacing. Oh my fucking God – ‘Nostalgia’ is the albums wow moment. Full of energy and bombast, a chorus to die for, a rhythm to dance, go wild or head bang to, ‘Nostalgia’ has everything modern melodic European metal has to offer – simply irresistible! This one song is worth the purchase price alone.

With the party in full swing, Hell In The Club slow the pace to ballad pace with ‘Lullaby For An Angel’, evoking the great ballads American rockers Poison delivered during their eighties heyday. The lights dim, couples cuddle, and a feeling of love swamps the room, such is the crispy, electric atmosphere. And suddenly boom! ‘Mr. Grouch’ lifts the pace to become the fastest song on offer, galloping like the favourite in the final furlong. Pace and power combine perfectly – ‘Mr. Grouch’ filled with enough energy to awaken even the dullest of parties. Strutting majestically and without a care in the world, ‘No Room In Hell’ is the most hustle and bustle song on the album, a tad menacing too. And that chant style chorus… The energy level right through this album has been off the scale – not sure what’s in the water in Italy, but whatever it is – keep drinking! ‘Tokyo Lights’ mixes AOR with hard rock to produce a heavy hitting number that will get a sitting crowd standing and singing along. The power of ‘Tokyo Lights’ is insane, turning frowns upside down all over the world. And I don’t believe it! The final song! It can’t be! One sec… It is…  Blimey where has the last forty minutes gone. That’s a sign of a great album when you lose track of elapsed time. Oh well, there’s always the replay button. But before then, the final song, ‘Lucifer’s Magic’, ends the album as it began – in a blaze of heavy hitting hard rocking AOR tinged metal/rock. This album has been a wonderful surprise – not at all what I expected. Definitely one of the finds of the year.

Overall, a hard rocking, heavy hitting, get the party started and make it last all night kind of album – ‘Hell Of Fame’ is a glorious rollercoaster of metal/rock.

TRACKLIST

We’ll Never Leave The Castle
Worst Case Scenario
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Joker
Last Of An Undying Kind
Nostalgia
Lullably For A Angel
Mr. Grouch
No Room In Hell
Tokyo Lights
Lucifer’s Magic

http://www.hellintheclub.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hellintheclub

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