Album Review: Hollywood Undead - Hotel Kalifornia
Reviewed by Tim Finch
If you are of a certain age you will remember the familiar noise of your modem dialling up to your ISP over you analogue phone line. The white noise akin to nails scraping down a black board (another analogy you probably need to be of a certain age to understand). Well that jarring noise of a modem dialling the internet is the introduction to ‘CHAOS’ the opening track of Hollywood Undead’s latest album ‘Hotel Kalifornia’. That noise is swiftly followed by the screaming of “CHAOS” over and over again. It’s enough of a jolt to wake you from your slumber, to sit you up and make you pay attention.
Hollywood Undead are back with album number eight, the aforementioned ‘Hotel Kalifornia’ and they continue their rampage melding rock, hip-hop, electronic, metal, and industrial into a cacophony of noise that, at times, works quite well.
Often the album is jarring, the industrial or technological noise that is thrust forward is intended to make the listener feel uncomfortable, a job it does exceedingly well. At other times, the band veer violently between the hip hop and nu-metal elements, and just as the listener is getting over the aural assault, a hint of pop/electronica kicks in – see ‘Ruin My Life’ as a perfect example of this. A track that wouldn’t be out of place on the popular music charts.
Then you have tracks like ‘Hourglass’ which transport you back to the melee of the late 90’s/early noughties metal scene. A time where the scene had gone off the rails, derailed by grunge and left whimpering with the likes of Papa Roach trampling all over it. Hollywood Undead take the sound the likes of Papa Roach used and put their own spin on it, breathing life into a soulless beast and making the tune a compelling listen. ‘Hourglass’ then leads us into ‘Go To War’ which is best described as a Rap Metal/Hip-Hop battle of the ages highlighting the juxtaposition of styles crammed into the album.
In ‘Hotel Kalifornia’ Hollywood Undead have taken opposing styles, melding them together like they were always meant to be. Whilst this will not be to everyone’s tastes, the album is an interesting take on a number of soulless genres and they actually make them vaguely listenable. An achievement in its own right.
