Hell Is For Heroes - London Barfly @ Monarch - 21/6/01
4/5
By: Toby L
'I feel sick... I feel f**king sick,' we're told from lead-singer, Justin - but it's no wonder why.
After erecting their own backdrop on taking to the stage, before anyone's had a chance to blink an eye, a steamy, sweaty mass of traditional metal hooks and epic, echoey vocals has flooded the speakers and deafened ears, proving not a bad introduction to these savage rock-beasts.
The wailing vocals and heads-down, leap-about approach prompts a sea of nodding heads from the audience, enabling early comparisons to the Deftones' distinct murky meandering hooks to seem justified. However, HIFH prepare a dish of treats on a more accessible tip, with this quintet's sound proving larger than the venue they fill here in the minuscule Monarch.
When a roar from the audience means that the electric-cymbal stomp of 'Sick/Happy' is amongst us, a mosh-pit ignites and the band dart around in the same way that dogs shake themselves free of fur-clinging fleas. It's such a hankering for heaviness, but knack for tunes, which prevents them from being too extreme to enjoy - a kind of 21st Century-born Idlewild if you will. However, until they're able to reach such a level of prominence, their equivalent of a nuclear power station's supply of energy should prove enough to leave the monsters of rock that lurk within the Milton Keynes Bowl this summer quaking in their boots.
Thus, today's assessment proves that the band rip out the rules from the 'Young Person's Guide To Rock Like A Bastard' and add their own blend of blinding, bellowing brilliance which deserves to set heads alight all across the globe... Never before has Satan spawned a new band of more relevance than Hell Is For Heroes.
Artists in this article: Hell Is For Heroes
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