Hellsongs – Minor Misdemeanors
Release Date: 2010Jun30 (EU)/2010Sep14 (US)
Label: Tapete
Rating: 3.5/5
Hellsongs is a new acquaintance for me, but this is the Swedish band’s third release and it seems to follow in its predecessors’ tracks, in that Minor Misdemeanour is a collection of acoustic country pop versions of metal anthems. It’s refreshing and fun way to look at the music of bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Skid Row. And some of the band’s new takes on these classics is quite successful: for example, “Skeletons Of Society” and “United” turn into sweet, passionate ballads (much due to Siri Bergnéhrs wonderful vocals). Unfortunately, some of the songs are in bigger need of their original metal dressing. “Heaven Can Wait” is just an acoustic version of the Iron Maiden classic and loses quite a bit of the British icons’ trademark epic pop feel; the same loss of original context also hurts both “Welcome To The Jungle” and “Walk”. But the horn-fuelled version of Alice Cooper‘s “School’s Out” and their take on Skid Row‘s “Youth Gone Wild” are well done..
In Scandinavia, though, many rock fans know of the records by the Swedish piano/vocal duo Hederos & Hellberg. They’ve redone classic tracks by some of Rock’s best artists (Gram Parsons, Neil Young, The Stooges, etc.), and thus is the standard to which Hellsongs must measure up. They lose that battle, as too many of the songs don’t match up to what a cover version should do: offer new light on a song, don’t just lose the electric guitars and thundering drums.
The album cover tries to be funny, adding a make-pretend incident report from a police officer about the band’s music. In doing that, the band also seem to take on international comedy bands such as Flight of the Conchords and Hayseed Dixie. That can be a pitfall for the group, as these bands have a impressive following; one using original material impersonating the styles of pop legends, while the other pull rock history through a bluegrass blender. But Hellsongs’ sound is not fuelled by mockery, but by homages. They are proud of Metal history and the songs are given honorable treatment.
This album is a great record to spin when your parents are visiting, when you’re trying to put the critters to bed, or when you’re in a summer mood on the beach. I just hope that the group cross over from just being a novelty band for metalheads into a decent outing for pop aficionados everywhere.
FCC: OK
Try: 1, 2, 7, 9, 10
1. Skeletons Of Society
2. Heaven Can Wait
3. Welcome To The Jungle
4. Walk
5. I Wanna Be Somebody
6. Rubicon Crossings
7. School’s Out
8. Sin City
9. Youth Gone Wild
10. United
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