Band:	Hell
Album:	Human Remains
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	May 13, 2011
Guest review by:	Valentin B

Disc I
01. Overture: Themes From "Deathsquad"
02. On Earth As It Is In Hell
03. Plague And Fyre
04. The Oppressors [Race Against Time cover]
05. Blasphemy And The Master
06. Let Battle Commence
07. The Devil's Deadly Weapon
08. The Quest
09. Macbeth
10. Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us
11. No Martyr's Cage

Disc II [Digipak & 3LP Bonus]
01. Deathsquad [demo]
02. On Earth As It Is In Hell [demo]
03. Plague And Fyre [demo]
04. The Oppressors [Race Against Time cover] [demo]
05. Blasphemy And The Master [demo]
06. Let Battle Commence [demo]
07. The Devil's Deadly Weapon [demo]
08. The Quest [demo]
09. Macbeth [demo ]
10. Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us [demo]
11. No Martyr's Cage [demo]

I have taken the artistic license to combine a couple of famous movies and books into the following story to give you an idea of how this album came to fruition. Grab some popcorn.

The group emerges from the time capsule, drowsy and confused from the long hours inside the pod. A young child of this age of technology puts down his guitar and rushes to the back yard from which the strange lights appeared. The young guitar virtuoso and accomplished album producer decides to give them a hand in recording an album that had to be abandoned due to their vocalist passing away. With his help, they track down their guitarist's long lost little brother, who during the long years of absence has taken a career in theatre. When presented with the offer to become a vocalist for a heavy metal group, his reaction is "Fuck yeah!" The group high-fives and Andy Sneap (the young guitarist/accomplished record producer) promptly proclaims "to the Mystery Machine!" The result sound-wise is easy to guess, if you have listened to anything Sneap ever produced, you'll know this sounds crystal clear and heavy as bricks.

This beast of an album begins with a proclamation that "soon it will be, on Earth as it is in Hell." They proceed then to present the frustration of having to deal with hypocrisy ("Save Us from Those Who Would Save Us"), and their failed attempt at musical breakthrough ("No Martyr's Cage"), and songs dealing with history, apocalypse and dark Shakespearean themes. Vocalist David Bower shrieks, howls, prays and curses like a madman. Songs that used to have a tongue in cheek tinge to them praising Satan now sound genuine and downright scary in places.

The best thing about this record is probably its attitude: the anger on display here is serious, real and hard-hitting. The only rays of hope for the light-hearted among us are songs that present this album as if it were a decadent, metal Broadway musical like "Let Battle Commence" or "The Quest". The rest of the album proceeds to tell tales of nihilism and society's corruption which the band clearly thinks are as meaningful now as they were back in 1986.

The riffs are out of this world, as you would expect from a band that had just emerged from a (musical, at least) time capsule. The songs surprise the listeners with unexpected twists and turns, leading into unexpected riff changes, scorching guitar solos or hard-hitting choruses. Some might argue that the interludes drag on for a bit, but it adds a distinct identity to each song.

I can only hope as a listener of heavy metal that this album will be followed-up with even more material from the band, or that at least it does not take 25 years to release another album. I give you the best heavy metal album of the year 2011.