Review Summary: As Hell Retreat's debut release "Revival" is a heavy record with a crushing message.
As Hell Retreats is a young Christian Death Metal band out of Nashville, Tn. Their Debut release on Strike First Records titled "Revival" is sure to draw some attention with it's fast paced songs that will make you wanna let down the ponytail and go for a spin. The first thing I want to comment on is the bold convicting message that this young band portrays throughout the album; this is one group of Christians that is not afraid to call out the american church for what it is.
The album starts with the exact kind of intro you would expect. An eery guitar riff followed by a breakdown. The second track is called "Inferior". The song is definitely heavy. Musically it is one of the better tracks on the album, lyrically however it's a little cheesy, with such lyrics as "quit treating them as inferior and look at their interior". The song is protesting racism which is a noble thing to do, it just could have been done better. Other than that blast beats, occasional breakdown. The ending really shows of the range of Vocalist Jackson Greene where he hits a much more guttural note reminding me almost of Phil Bozeman from Whitechapel.
The next three tracks is the let down of the album. Tracks "The Holy Thief", "Raze", and "Resting With Closed Eyes" are just plain out mediocre in my opinion. Nothing really special to be found in any of these tracks other than the guitar solo in "The Holy Thief" which I was quite impressed with.
The remaining four songs really pick up the pace. "Messengers" is my personal favorite on the album. Guitarists Blake Hardman and Tyler Riley show off their technical guitar abilities in this track with superb riffs all the way through and a massive guitar solo that could compare to that of As I Lay Dying. The songs structure is worth mentioning, from start to finish this two minute and fifty six second song flows beautifully from start to almost finish, the ending wasn't terrible but I didn't particularly enjoy it.
"Contradiction" features a very strong message. I can't ignore the passion in this song with lyrics like "American Christianity is a disease". Musically it's a solid track but nothing that will stand out.
As Hell Retreats really shows off their versatility as writes in the title track "Revival". This is a beautiful instrumental with some of the best guitar tones that you can find. I've found myself on more than one occasion enjoying this relaxing track on a long drive.
"Poor God" is a close second to my favorite on the album. The song has a much more melodic feel than the other tracks. I'm not going to spoil it for you now but if you want a real eye opener as far as faith is considered look up the lyrics to this track. Toward the end of the track AHR gives you a taste of "Revival" with another beautifully written ambient part before going out on a heavy note that works wonderfully to end their debut effort.
PROS:
Guitar tones
Lyrical content
Great range of Vocals
CONS:
Inaudible Bass
Tracks 3-5
Drums tend to get repetitive
Overall solid effort for such a young band. I am sure that sophomore release "Volition" will show growth and maturing for this group.
