I can’t help but have an admiration for bands that try to do something new and follow their heart; no matter the genre, it’s can be a big step into the unknown. To go one step further and self finance a physical release of your music is truly a brave move. Throw into that mix the additional hurdle of presenting the album in a language that is not your own, but instead choosing the international tongue of rock and metal that is English (sorry France, nobody except your former colonies likes Johnny Hallyday) and those levels of admiration go sky high. Hellvoid are one such band, hailing from Poland and trying out a new genre that they have christened “Bass n Roll” on their debut ‘Gloomy Wizard’ EP.
So why “Bass n Roll”, you may ask? Simply put, the band are a near traditional four piece, but with two basses instead of guitar and bass. With many “djent” bands basically playing the open top string of their eight stringer, Hellvoid could have easily gone down that route and most folks would be none the wiser. Instead, they mix up a host of styles, opening track ‘Decapitated’ managing in under five minutes to mix technical groove metal, drawn out stoner riffing, and some almost metal-core shouting, all played out over one bass taking the standard rhythm role, whilst the other plays the lead. ‘Broken Glass’ follows this eclectic mix, trying to combine sludgy break downs with a doomy crawl, and the inevitable groove that is pretty much guaranteed from some complex bass playing, whilst ‘Rehab’ sounds like a Pantera track that Dimebag was too stoned or hungover to turn up to and Rex Brown had to do double duties. The simplest, and for me closest to satisfying number was the title track ‘Gloomy Wizard’ as it didn’t try to be all things to all people, and was pretty much a straight doom number, low, slow, and with the lead bass simply fulfilling the role of a down tuned guitarist.
Whilst the band is to be admired for trying so much, the problem for me was that they managed to simultaneously try too much, and also be too similar to other acts, the whole just not gelling. A well played bass can be a thing of joy, and I say that as somebody who was fortunate enough to see Cliff Burton live; sadly, the lead bass playing often seems just too much like an audition piece where the player is trying to showcase all their abilities rather than create a coherent song, whilst in ‘Gloomy Wizard’ it simply played riffs that could well be suited to a guitar. Their ability is without a doubt present, and since this is an act that only formed in 2015, it is quite amazing that they have managed to overcome so many self imposed barriers; sadly, however, the EP does sound like an unready demo.
(5/10 Spenny)
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