Review Summary: Mindless metal mediocrity...
Congratulations, for you have found a very, very, very, very derivative and clichéd metal album. Henry Metal is a clear enthusiast of metal and it’s apparent that he has the technical guitar playing of the genre down to a tee. However, in spite of Henry Metal’s familiarity with metal, there is little to no creativity in songwriting or coherence in War In Heaven’s attempts at blending humor with witty social commentary.
Epic Song boasts some of many eye-rolling stabs at comedy, featuring lyrics like “Smoking heroin in the ally, well maybe don’t do that” or “Winning hot dog eating contests by having intestines removed.” Other tracks like Nunchaku are try-hard at best with lyrics like “fools be like, what the heck are you doing? When you pull the ‘chucks from your fanny pack”.
Unfortunately for us, we are also given some crude attempts at songs about societal flaws. War In Heaven, the title track, encapsulates various metaphors which all fail to come off as intelligent as Henry Metal wishes they did. These lyrically loquacious and overly lengthy tracks only continue to grate as the album progresses due to poorly executed vocal deliveries. Henry’s voice is lackluster at best and his shouting or quavering articulations continually dampen the overall listening experience.
Aside from how solid the instrumentals on these songs tend to be, they are obvious imitations of every other metal band you’ve heard before. Opening track “The Eternal Question” begins with a riff that is almost verbatim to any song from Slayer’s discography.Nunchaku is frankly a knock-off Van Halen song with its driving riff that sounds like a poor man's Panama. You can find loads of dull and uninspired drumming passages that add no flair to the intricate guitar playing. Songs like Gimme A Break are a prime example of overly simplistic and repetitive drumming, adding nothing to the song. War In Heaven represents one of many clichéd metal albums and lacks any notable qualities. Meanwhile failing to ever generate a chuckle or prove a point about societal issues.
