Album Review: Hellbender - American Nightmare
Reviewed by Carl Black
Think back to a time when thrash had fallen off the table, but we were still waiting for nu-metal to hit. Some say those were barren years in fast, heavy aggressive music but if you look a few pioneers rose from the infertile wasteland and created some truly classic albums. Machine Head, Fear Factory and the rise of modern hard-core with the emergence of Hatebreed and others were what kept a lot of us in the game. This era is where Hellbender from California would sit. Harsh and aggressive but with a streak of modernity that sets them apart from what came before and what was to come after.
'American Nightmare' is their third album and the band have produced eight tracks that have the stable precision of modern metal production but have retained the organic thread that all good metal music should have; i.e. nothing they couldn’t pull off live. Album opener 'Left with Nothing' and 'Winter’s Bone' both have a classic thrash feel, with a tempo change for the chorus with little or no transition time so it appears to come out of nowhere. Another nod to the old school is the Motorhead type punky rock n roll of 'Born Dead'. A nice groove to 'Pure Hate' is balanced out with the hate and bitter filled 'Rosa'. A bit too much of a nod to their influences during the title track as the lead melody sounds very much like Davidian by Machine Head. But don’t let that put you off.
This band are really finding their feet and are discovering their identity. Socially aware lyrics set against today’s backdrop of strife finds Hellbender in the right place at the right time. More touring (when possible) and more song writing. I get the feeling that this is the album before the big one. The blue print, the calm before the storm. Keep a close eye on this one.
Thx u Carl for the review! Crank it up loud ????‼️