Promoted as an example of the New Wave of Swedish Death Metal, for me this album had a distinct old school air about it. With its intense driving force, death n roll covers it nicely. The band who deliver it are from Greece.
What I heard was Motorhead type riffs, growly vocals and an overall similarity to Entombed. Unsurprisingly, “The Hell That Follows” doesn’t share the quality of an album by these stalwarts. There is energy, but there’s constancy and most of all a lack of real character to take us listeners out of our shell. “Deathrider Approaches …” is typically driving and swirling but there’s no great edge. The album drives on in its gruff melodic way. Each song is crunchy and tight but unmemorable. The drummer goes at it with a fair lick, and there are some good guitar solos but what should be punchy songs lack real weight. I found I was mid-way through each time of listening before I took any notice, and this was for the wrong reason. “Behold A Burning Wall” is lacklustre but it was the cacophonously awful harmonies which came most to my attention. The following track “Sway” redressed the balance – at last, some excitement. After the pedestrian fare which preceded it, finally there is firepower. “Sway” slides up the scale, exploits the energy and even has an interesting psychedelic feel in the solo, as if Hawkwind had joined the party. The two remaining tracks revert to type, however. “The Kraken” has the ingredients, combining traditional heavy metal and a crushing sound reminiscent of Insomnium, yet it sounds crushed and even false. “… And Hell Followed” completes the album. The riff, whose colour and motion is reminiscent of The Haunted, has edge and threatens to get in our face without quite making.
I don’t know if it was the sound quality, the sludgy style repressing the overall energy, or the lack of originality in the songs, but “The Hell That Follows” lacked the explosive edge that it needed, and for me was frustrating and disappointing.
(4/10 Andrew Doherty)
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