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Hell
is for Heroes - The Neon Handshake
[1] Five
Kids Go
[2] Out Of
Sight
[3] Night
Vision
[4] Cut Down
[5] Few Against
Many
[6] Three
Of Clubs
[7] I Can
Climb Mountains
[8] Disconnector
[9] You Drove
Me To It
[10] Slow
Song
[11] Sick/Happy
[12] Retreat
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When Hell
Is For Heroes first burst onto the scene they had an abundance
of hype surrounding them. They, having been fashioned by former
Symposium guitarist Will McGonagle and drummer Joe Birch, shouldered
a weight of expectation (Symposium being a promising young British
band whose shelf life was cut short due to record label issues).
Rather than
rush the release of ‘The Neon Handshake’, they decided
to hold off and concentrate on evolving their sound and presence
as a live band. They wowed crowds with both their stage shows
and then with their massive singles; ‘Night Vision’,
‘I Can Climb Mountains’ and ‘You Drove Me To
It’. With everything in place, ‘The Neon Handshake’
came to market, and with it HiFH have established themselves as
one of the greatest British bands of this generation, if not ever. |
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It’s
hard to pick out individual moments of brilliance, in an album so littered
with genius. An element which I feel is not highlighted enough if their
more emotive and uplifting side. ‘Slow Song’ and ‘Retreat’
both have the ability make hairs stand up on the back of people’s
necks. Something which strikes me as different about HiFHs is how lyrically
strong they are. Finding a band that can pump out decent riffs is one
thing. Finding one that can also create empowering, epic and pulsating
songs is quite another.
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I feel that
not only is this album intensely amazing, it’s also immensely
important for British music. Line this London quintet up alongside
the US’s finest Nu-Metal bands, and you see the depth of talent
that Hell Is For Heroes possess. Young songwriters will hopefully
look up to what they have achieved here and realise how much there
is to writing a great song. The band themselves have gone through
some hardship and this album feels like they have found themselves
en route, and are now here to tell the tale and give others hope. |
Overall
the album is stunning, refreshing and currently unchallenged. If you
have any interest in the British music scene or quality music in general
I implore you to pick this album up now.
5 out of 5
Richard
Sawyer
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