Welp, time for a party. One that I certainly never intended to attend, for that matter. It's that rare frat party one gets dragged to and finds that these blokes are actually quite alright. "The Fever" might be a good summation of The Hell's sound: corny cinematic intro, 80's hair metal radio-ready vocal hook, insane megadeath boogy bass, and some f@#king thrashy riffs. Self-aware avantgarde pop metal? Is it serious or sarcastic? I have no idea, but f@#k it I'm grabbing a solo cup and funnel.
Tongue-in-cheek spoken word and commentary, English accents, weird dancable hip-hop tropes, and a dose of Every Time I Die and Stray from the Path. This is something I never knew I needed, but absolutely do. It's what I was hoping for from We Butter the Bread with Butter's latest release, but it fell short. With a name like Brutopia, you'd better be dishing out kegs of entertainment, and with The Hell, the PBR is always flowing. Skits like "DH1..." make me feel like it's the 90's all over again.
"Just Curious" and "One More Time" are djent meets The Prodigy. "Fuck You," "I've Got Lots of Money," and the entire album for that matter, are like listening to the subtext behind the endless stream of generic glamcore LP's that hit the shelves daily; like these groups are starring in a metalcore version of Liar Liar where they try to write their usual tripe, but the truth keeps coming out on paper. The results are hilarious.
And so it goes for another surprise hit late in the year. I'm working on the must-buy albums list comprised of the releases I just keep coming back to over and over again for a mixture of unmatched enjoyability with fresh sound and solid musicianship. I've already listened to Brutopia four times today and am ready to go again. Now it's your turn. Check the links above to purchase the album on 10/30.
