Raise Hell - Written in Blood (2015)

I was a little dismayed and concerned when I found out that there had been a Raise Hell record I completely missed last year; the former because nobody had really been talking up Written in Blood, and the latter because...I missed a Raise Hell record, and felt the cold, cobwebbed fingers of senility probing between my ears. Well, it turns out that there's a pretty good reason for both, because while this record returns a degree of the Swedish firebrands' furious Holy Target energy and velocity, it does seem to abandon a little of that ghoulish, haunted house charisma and face rocking hilarity that dominated Not Dead Yet and then resonated onto the two discs after that one, even if they weren't quite as excellent.

On its surface, this album is a stylistic doppelganger to what they've produced before. Harsh vocal driven murder thrash with convulsions of the death and black metal traditions that the band had mutated from early on. Largely in those same vocals and some of the drumming, or in the rhythm guitars that seem occasionally indistinguishable from other Scandinavian death/thrash or melodeath. The issue here is that while the note counts and the structure of these songs is comparable to prior efforts, so many of these tunes head right in one ear and out the other, largely due to exhaustion with so many well-rounded thrash acts possessing this level of competence and execution but not the capacity for memorable songwriting. Written in Blood is an able record if you just want to bang your head and possess audio evidence that the Swedes are still firing away, but the highlights are few and far between, and nothing like a "Babes" or "Nightcrawler" or "Dance With the Devil" really turns up.

It's not a total wasteland. Raise Hell have always understood how to induce some variation and balance to their LPs, and that exists here between pure ragers like "Dr. Death" or the Exodus paced "Six Feet Under" and more dramatic, melodic pieces like "A Blackened Resurrection" which are a little more successful as reincarnating the charm of older songs. Some tunes are little more than meaty, brickhouse thrash boredom like "We Arise", while others like "The Bell of the Reaper" are nearly worthy to be mixed in with better tracks from City of the Damned and Wicked is My Game. Clean guitars are used effectively in a few intros, acoustics glimmering before the distortion elevates the threat level. The rhythm guitars are constantly chopping and hacking like professional butchers, the drums circa the band's one new member to this recording are perfect, and Jimmy Fjällendahl's vocals remain consistently hellish throughout, though he lacks that raving, zany charm Jonas Nilsson brought out for Not Dead Yet.

Leads are proficient and timed right here, and there's no shortage of melody in general, but half of them are merely elegant rather than catchy. A lot of the riffing framework is structurally sound but inescapably predictable, and while that might have been par for the course with prior releases, they had those extra pieces of personality there to seal the deal, where this just seems a more soulless and obligatory exercise that impersonates its predecessors. Granted, it's been almost a decade since the band were releasing albums, and their scalpels might take a little dusting off. Written in Blood is by no means a bad record, and it has the same fixation on both slasher and classic horror themes that they've had since the earlier albums, but beyond a serviceable EP's worth of stronger content it just lacks the resonant engagement I had really hoped for a post-hiatus Raise Hell. Not a large misstep, but unlikely to be something I'd choose over the four older discs.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (crawls out from the dark)

http://www.raisehell.se/

Raise Hell - City of the Damned (2006)

A phantom train zips across a doomed city line, and the fourth album from Raise Hell arrives, some four years after Wicked Is My Game. Some of this delay was likely due to a pair of lineup changes, and the acquisition of a new label after the deal with Nuclear Blast expired. Soon after the band released Wicked is My Game, Jonas Nilsson made the decision to hire a vocalist so he could focus solely on his guitar work. Honestly, you wouldn't notice, since the studio guitars here are hardly more complex, so it must have been a live gig decision. The new vocalist is Jimmy Fjällendahl, and while I don't enjoy his vocals nearly as much as Nilsson, he's at least got the right type of approach, a caustic snarl that fits in well with the spooky horror show thrash that the band have continued here from the past two albums. The other change is Joakim Kulo joining the band to replace Torstein Wickberg, who departed in 2004.

City of the Damned is actually a better album than Wicked is My Game, but it takes a few tracks to get revved up. "Devils Station" does not exactly excite through the thrash riffing, but it gives the listener a chance to adapt to Fjällendahl's snarls. The atmospheric break around 3:30 features a minimal, resonant guitar melody that sounds cool over the writhing rhythm beneath and the marching drums, helping set up the title track "City of the Damned", which is a slower, groove laden thrash hymn with a better, forward momentum, although it too lacks in riffs that would have taken more than 60 seconds to compose, and the bluesy guitar twang does little for me. I enjoyed the percussion used in the intro to "Like Clowns We Crawl", and Fjällendahl puts a nice swagger to his vocals here that almost matches the charisma of Nilsson on prior records. The riffs are in general predictable but fun, though when the band picks up to a "Holy Wars" like faster rhythm and the leads breakout, it's truly a pleasure. "Reaper's Calling" has some mid paced thrash grooves, a Grave Digger-like chorus, and some nice harmony around the lead.

The rest of the album is mixed in quality, but thankfully, nothing dips below average. "Open Your Mind" and "Ghost I Carry" did little for me, but the melodic vocal climax and the haunted house thrash break after 3:00 in the latter was worth hearing. "My Shadow" and "I" both have a solid array of faster riffs, and "To the Gallows" has a few excellent, charging moments where Jimmy's vocals echo out across the rhythm section. The last track "Rising" is probably the most notable on the album, for both the creepy keyboards that manifest the perfect, cheap horror atmosphere, and the slow, thrashing rhythm weaves in and out of a verse passage with expressive vocals, and clean guitars, before another melodic chorus which yet again delves briefly into a power metal feel.

Though are very few head-spinning riffs to be found in this City of the Damned, and the lyrics are somewhat bland (like the last album), but the songs are reasonably well written and you're unlikely to find yourself bored by its contents. I did miss Nilsson's vocals here, yet his replacement is worthy enough to carry the torch, and by this point he'd already been with the band for years. Like Wicked Is My Game, the production is clear and present, and in particular some fine work was done with the vocals to give them some depth, catering to the thrash and thrust with echoes and other effects. Almost completely gone are the crushing, raunchy tones of Not Dead Yet, and all of the band's previous black metal influences, save for the fact the vocalist is rasping. In fact, Holy Target and City of the Damned sound like two entirely different bands. This is far more controlled than other Swedish black/thrash hybrids, and the band's pure rock influence continues to grow through the hooks and bluesy touches that flourish throughout this material. This album might not be one for the books, but I can hear no indicator that Raise Hell are giving it any less than their best effort, and maturing as songwriters, even if this particular batch was not as enticing as what they summoned forth on the first two records.

Highlights: City of the Damned, Like Clowns We Crawl, Rising

Verdict: Win [7.75/10] (without words they talk)

http://www.raise-hell.net/

Raise Hell - Wicked is My Game (2002)

Wicked is My Game is the third album from the Swedish hell raisers, and for the most part, continues in the style the band established with the excellent Not Dead Yet two years prior. Once more, the band decided to visit Studio Fredman (and In Flames vocalist Anders Fridén) for production, but the difference here is that the mix seems a little less crunchy, and a mite more reserved than its predecessor. The band have an even greater love of melody, and they've come to let the songs breathe a little more in the mix, maybe a bit of pure rock and roll energy too, but this is still a decent, venomous thrash metal album led by Jonas Nilsson's black, rasping, charismatic tones and the power of 'the riff'.

If the intro to "Hellborn" sounds familiar, that's probably because it's a metallic rendition of John Carpenter's Halloween, and here it becomes evident that the band have gone here for more of a 'crisp' than a 'crunch' in the guitars. Still, once the tracks hits 1:30 or so, the music morphs into the Raise Hell original, and sounds quite a lot like fellow Swedish black/thrashers Witchery, with the exception of Nilsson's more pronounced vocal style. The riffs are solid but average, however I did enjoy the little melodic snack around 4:00. "Night-Watcher" is more aggressive, with some fairly virulent thrash riffs and sick vocals (in particular where Nilsson continues to repeat the song title in the chorus), and it's a lot closer to the material on Not Dead Yet. Next is "The Haunted House", which really has nothing interesting on offer, before the title tracks brings us back on track with a pretty rocking chorus with its bluesy melody, if nothing remarkable in the sheer riffing department.

The latter portion of the album brings mixed results. "In My Cell" is hardly inspirational, but pulls off another cute melody in the post-chorus/breakdown before a forgettable bridge rhythm. Far more interesting would be "An Other Side", which transforms from a brief psychedelic of clean guitars to weighty, desperate thrashing groove, with a nice roadster level of speed and killer dual melody bridging the two brief leads. "Deathrace" is fun enough, once again evoking the band's classic horror/exploitation film influence into the lyrics. In fact, the whole album has this haunted theme park thrash meets Alice in Wonderland aesthetic to it, as foreshadowed by the cover pic. "Devil May Care" opens with a similar sound to the previous album's "Babes", before a slow churning rhythm with a lot of groove. Honestly, sounds like an outtake from Not Dead Yet. The final track, "The Destiny Deceiver" is nothing particularly memorable, but probably the best song on the later half of the album, with a rolling momentum, a creepy chorus, and a few strikes of the cowbell for good measure.

Wicked is My Game seems like a natural followup to Not Dead Yet, but it does lack all of that albums overbearing power, as well as the novelty of the band's shift from their earlier, melodic black metal element. This is certainly something you would enjoy as a die hard fan of the first two Witchery albums, but I felt it lacked a little of the bone crunching power of many songs like "Dance With the Devil", "Babes" and the like. It's cool that the band is into horror films and stories, but the lyrics here leave much to be desired. Nilsson's performance is perhaps the strong point of this album, but even that takes a back seat to how wild he was on the last album. Sadly, he decided to focus on his guitar playing for the band's 4th effort, so Wicked is My Game is the last we might hear of him as the Raise Hell frontman. I can't say I love this record. I felt my expectations deflate as I listened through it the first time, and through the years I've had very little reason to re-visit it, but it's successful enough to enjoy for a few spins.

Highlights: Night Watcher, An Other Side, The Destiny Deceiver

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (there is nothing more to accomplish)

http://www.raise-hell.net/

Raise Hell - Not Dead Yet (2000)

Sweden has had quite a notable history for being the hotbed of bands that successfully marry the snarling black metal vocal aesthetic with raw, roots thrash which captures the best of both the European and US markets of the 80s. Witchery is probably the most obvious flag waver in this movement, if only for their killer debut Restless & Dead, but a great many other bands have contributed: Bewitched, Swordmaster, Maze of Torment, are but a few. In 2000, having decided to ditch the endless blasting and 'infernal vs. divine' war motif of their debut Holy Target, Raise Hell would proudly join these ranks, with one of the very best albums offered in the entire movement (to date). Not Dead Yet is a chunky beast of massive, simple thrash riffing that is woven through with numerous, creepy guitar melodies that completely kick ass.

What's more, the album is decidedly hilarious, with smutty, evil lyrics that had one of my hands grasping at a crucifix for protection, the other grasping for a handkerchief to clean up the beer I just vomited out of my nostrils. Yes, my friends, this album is FUN. Extremely entertaining! Like having a deck of nude nun playing cards. Because, unlike the hordes of lamer wannabe thrash bands springing up more commonly than leaves of grass in the 21st century, Raise Hell actually plays it straight! Despite the cheesy, 80s rock & roll lyrics, the cover that belonged on a Lizzy Borden album in 1985, there is something adequately menacing about Not Dead Yet. It's extremely hostile, regard of the lyrical output, and if you cannot bang your head to this then you should be exiting the hall with DUE HASTE. Take a little of Mille Petrozza's torn open sneer, huge riffs that would make Cronos or Quorthon proud, add some black metal background aesthetic and mesmerizing, creepy little melodies, and crank it up louder than hell!

Like most of the better thrash albums, Not Dead Yet does not tarry with your hard earned time. It goes for the kill immediately (like Witchery did with "The Reaper"), putting its best foot so far forward up your ass that you'll be choking to death before you hit the chorus. "Dance With the Devil" features an unforgettable, massive momentum to its mid-paced, frothing thrash, with perfectly pedestrian alpha male lyrics that both inspire and terrify!

I know what I want to do and I don't care what they say
I do what I want 'cause I'm the hunter and you are the prey
Come with me, come with us be a rebel
"Come with me and dance with the devil"
I'm the goddamned devil..this job pleases me
Be a goddamned devil...this job will please you to

No beating around the bush, just come out and say it already! All this would be enough for a good laugh and ensuing hiccups, but Raise Hell had to go and write the rest of a kickass song too. The breakdown at 1:30 is monstrous, but there's an even huger one after 2:00, and the solo is both morbid and lethal. "Babes" continues the trend, a lusty love letter to the ladies of the night, delivered in a bombastic, marching bottom end with fragments of shining melody and Jonas Nilsson's most endearing and memorable vocals, especially when his 'that's what I like, that's what I like' shriek shatters in the middle of the chorus. "Back Attack" is strike three, you're out, with its pulsing, heavy bass-line and the charging onslaught of barbaric, apocalyptic thrashing. Rather than visit this pace yet again, the band wisely moves into "Devilyn", set to some clean guitars and an eerie melody that soon bristle with a hellish, bright but slowed slaughter of the band's black metal backlog, with Nilsson using a slightly more harmonic vocal tone.

"Not Dead Yet" picks up the pace considerably, a faster paced thrashing which fully entertains due to the disgusting vocals and the almost 'cheering section' bridge riff/lyrics. "No Pulse" does suffer from a few, generic rhythms, but hearing them played in such a crushing tone certainly increases their value considerably, and "User of Poison" is another fiendish plague of fist pounding, dense thrash with amazing vocals. Rounding out the effort is the strange little interlude "He is Coming", sort of a chant over some swank, martial guitars, marching drums and heavily effected axe fuckery. And lastly, "Soulcollector" is a violent, reckless and swift kick to the groin like Sentenced of Death-era Destruction meets old Kreator or Bulldozer, with some gentle segues of sparkling, clean guitars that creep back into the moshing force. It's pretty long, but never boring, and the desperate, echoing vocals near the finale are a decent surprise if you can make it through.

It's a forceful and unrefined effort which succeeds not only for its innocent debauchery and the witch-like charming of both riffs and melody, but also the very straight, loud, dirty mix it was given at Studio Fredmen. Yes, Not Dead Yet is a crude affair even held up against its predecessor Holy Target, and thought it might not have been the most conscious decisions, it was the right one in the end. This is pretty much what I want to hear when I pick up a more primal thrash effort: good hooks you just can't shake, unforgettable vocals, and even silly lyrics that can stick in the head. Technical, Raise Hell is not. Polished? Who the hell cares. Not Dead Yet is pure, head banging testosterone guaranteed to rock you and your friends into a drunken coma.

Highlights: everything with a pulse.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10] (I like it when you light my fire)

http://www.raise-hell.net/

Raise Hell - Holy Target (1998)

Raise Hell's 1998 debut album Holy Target may not seem all that extraordinary for its day, being heavily influenced by the sounds of Dissection's Storm of the Lights Bane and other melodic Swedish black metal acts like Lord Belial or Sacramentum. However, it does serve as an exception to the band's discography, as they would rather quickly shift their focus towards a fun black/thrash hybrid as soon as the sophomore effort Not Dead Yet. You could, however, trace this transformation back to the debut, because in betwixt the straight up blasting Dark Funeral frenzy and bleeding, unsubtle devotion to melodies, you'll definitely hear a speed/thrash embryo kicking at the sides of its blackened womb.

Holy Target is no exception to quality, though, and Raise Hell have long surprised me as one of those bands with every shred of potential which somehow breakthrough success has overlooked. As early as this album, the Swedes were writing fairly strong material, with a more accessible edge to it than countrymen like Dissection or Dark Funeral, and with a three-record deal through Nuclear Blast records, expectations were high. Perhaps the 'fun factor' I have always felt with this band has somehow hindered them, as they feel like a meter of 'blasphemy lite'. The lyrics feel like a representation of faux-Satanism at its worst, crafted solely to identify the band's music within a larger underground movement that could provide a built-in listenership. This air of blasphemy lends itself to a number of tracks here, like "Raise the Devil", "Superior Powers", "Legions of creeps" and "Beautiful as Fire", but the band also delves in violent death/thrash fare like serial killers and so forth. Personally, I find the Satanic elements to this record hammy, and I greatly prefer the more sexual and silly direction they take with the following album, but at least the lyrics are something once can get into.

As for the music, it's a fairly bewildering storm of serpentine storm beats and streaming chords of fell glory, more immediately catchy than Storm of the Light's Bane or Vobiscum Sathanas if lacking some of their eventual depth. "Raise the Devil" and "Holy Target" are good examples of their more ferocious, warlike melody and incessant burning of energy. The former has some outbreaks of viral Kreator-like thrash (the early bridge around :20) and the latter has a bit of a Bathory influence in its depths (Blood Fire Death era), but otherwise they both explode like abyssal artillery, lobbing fire at the wheeling circles of angels above. There are better songs, though, including "Beautiful as Fire" with riffs reminiscent of a less muddled Sabbat (UK), or the beautiful thrashing violence that sets up "Black Visions", frenetic leads streaming across the harsher barrage beneath. "The Red Ripper" breaks out into a total killer mid-paced thrashing, and both "Mattered Out" and "Superior Powers" are pure punishment glazed in severe riffing ability and Jonas Nilsson's despotic throat.

The album was mixed at Abyss Studios in Sweden by Tommy Tägtgren, and it holds up very well, the blood soaked battlefield of a timeless, metaphysical slaughter. The bass might feel somewhat subdued, but this is largely due to the razor sharp attack of the guitars and the incredible storm of Dennis Ekdahl's drumming (he's also played in Sins of Omission, Mystic Prophecy and Siebenbürgen). As for the compositions themselves, few if any truly stand out to memory, though the album is a pleasure to listen to when you seek a dependable black attack with some melody, and higher production values than many in the scene have mustered. The big label visibility and rather trendy style of this album might have made it a 'holy target' in the eyes of many an underground purist fan who would picket anything that even bordered on financial plausibility or general accessibility beyond the cult black metal crowd, but it's still a fresh blast of carnage you can enjoy alongside the other would-be giants in Dawn, Sacramentum, Mörk Gryning, The Crown and so forth.

Highlights: Beautiful as Fire, The Red Ripper, Black Visions, Holy Target

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (we grind their empty skulls)

http://www.raise-hell.net/