Source: Official Album Art
Perseverance is the name of the game, and it seems that Hellbent & Hammered are the winners. Throughout their career, spanning over a decade, the band have experienced more ups and downs than the Pepsi Max at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Walk-outs, lineup changes and unreleased EP’s, and still, Hellbent & Hammered have endured.
Death Rattle, the band’s forthcoming EP, is the sound of a band who’ve taken the ride and come out better for it on the other side. It is a truly stunning EP, encompassing sounds from far and wide, and drawing them together in the most sophisticated manner.
The EP’s title track, ‘Death Rattle‘, completely sums up the band’s self-assigned genre of ‘Groove Metal’. It’s heavy, but listenable, and definitely a track to let loose to with its incredible er…groove. It’s hard to find an area that Hellbent & Hammered fall short on this EP as each track is of such a high quality, and sufficiently different from the last.
Attack and aggression seem to be the name of the game on the EP’s strongest track, ‘All Consuming‘, which draws in slight influences from thrash metal and makes for three and a half minutes of metal goodness. Wrapping up the EP with the slower, more methodic, ‘Built That Way‘, Hellbent & Hammered don’t seem to let up their intense approach.
Death Rattle is four tracks portraying everything from disdain to anger. It’s dark, it’s loud and most of all, it’s one of those EP’s that you can go to when you need to let off some steam. All in all, it’s an incredibly enjoyable listen.
