Geordie metallers Hellion Rising have been kicking around since 2012 and at first, given the name of the band, I as many who haven’t heard of the band before may be forgiven that they are a death metal band. How wrong I (and you, if you thought that too) were! Hellion Rising play a fine brand of groove heavy metal with some doom and stoner influences in there. This is the band’s second EP (Self titled release being the first) and its clear to see how the band have managed to support acts such as Blitzkrieg and Tygers of Pan Tang.
“With Bricks of Bone and Blood as Mortar” opens the EP. It’s an ambient noise styled build up of synths which grow in volume and tension but it serves little purpose other than filler, which at the start of an EP is kind of disappointing, however, the following track “The Beast” is not. Opening up with a simple, groove filled riff, it rolls out and catches your attention with its hook. Vocally, it sounds a lot like midland’s based Balls Deep and musically it comes across like a more groove and less metal sounding Black Label Society. The song stays relatively simple till the guitar solo where the effects laden leadwork dances across the track, adding some kick and flavour to it before it kicks back to the straight forward groove to bring the song home.
“Wretch Nailed Tongue” starts off with a drum solo intro which goes into a more beefed up metal sounding groove as soon as the band joins in. The bite and aggression in the song’s sound is a nice touch and it’s got a great feel to it for head banging along. The solo is slick, full of teasing wah-pedal work and tricky fills as it rises and falls and it doesn’t sound out of place at all either which is always a bonus, but the highlight of the track has to be the drums which are solid right the way throughout. “Bereavement of the Chimes” follows up and starts off with some feedback and a nice fat fuzzed out guitar riff which turns into a massive wall of sound as the rest of the band kicks in with it. It’s got a slow, stompy tempo, like some really heavy stoner groove going on and the pace remains like that for most of the song. The timing and voicing of the guitar and bass works great, emphasising the heavy sound to perfection and allowing the more beefed up “Blues for the Red Sun” era Kyuss styled vocals to shine through. Shortly after halfway through, the intensity ups and the song speeds up with a great riff and some fine drum work. This kick into gear is timed to perfection and it sets up the rest of the song well which trails off into a big chugging riff to end it.
“Goat Charmer” is up next and its groove just gets you straight away. This is music you can either get caught up in or just sit back and relax too. The instruments are slightly lower in the mix for this one which works well as it allows the strong vocal performance to stand out but not be too overpowering as to obscure what is going on behind it. The song is steady but once again, the lead work really picks it up. After a short breakdown near the middle of the song which lets the drums take the stage over the solid, pounding guitar groove there is another tremendous guitar solo. Slower than the previous tracks one, its timed to perfection and not overly flashy but still pretty expressive. Post-solo there is a drum heavy break with some ‘shouted through a megaphone’ styled vocals before the song kicks back into full gear again with another solo and some big vocal wails too. It’s a great track.
The final track “Just for Tonight” starts off with a cleanish sounding guitar before the drums kick in and the main riff begins. It’s a bright sounding chord based riff which gets your attention, and in the verse the trickier riffs kick in. Overall, it’s the best sounding track on the recording and it’s great that it’s been saved till last! It’s got a more melodic edge to it but still retains that stoner-groove feel with the powerful vocal displays. There’s a great break where the rhythm is clean and some harmony lead lines come into play before it goes into an 80’s styled NWOBHM gallop which is an unexpected but great twist. Keeping with the more metal feel, the song goes on and the eagerly awaited solo kicks in which starts off simple at first before it bursts to life with a flurry of quick licks. A second lead bit kicks in shortly after which is more technical minded than the first one and delivered again to great effect before the song reverts to the chorus sound once again to bring it home.
Overall, this is a fantastic EP and one which took me by surprise given my initial expectation of the band. If this is what Hellion Rising are capable of on an EP, I can’t wait to hear the full length when they get round to releasing one! This is one EP worth checking out!
(8/10 Fraggle)
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