Album artwork
Hellyeah’s line up is a line up that can get any metal fan slobbering. Most famous of which is Vinnie Paul, the man behind the drums in the legendary Pantera, also the band features members of Mudvayne, Nothingface and Bloodsimple. Pretty impressive right? Well here they are with album number four, going under the title Blood For Blood, will this be the album that finally pushes Hellyeah back into the spotlight they enjoyed in their former bands.
As soon as opener ‘Sangre Por Sangre (Blood for Blood)’ begins you know what you have. A by numbers ‘metal’ album. It’s got the ‘im a hard, dangerous man’ type of lyrics. Chugging guitar riffs and the groove on drums that only someone of the calibre and metal pedigree of Vinnie Paul can achieve. ‘Demon In The Dirt’ follows suit, blasting open with a roar and then trudging along in a non more metal way. ‘Soul Killer’ has a fantastically nasty sounding solo but once again it is the same as what has come on the tracks before. ‘Moth’ opens a little more subtle and enters full on metal ballad zone. Walking a tightrope that sometimes teeters a little too close to the sound of Nickleback for my liking. Thankfully they pull it back. Just.
‘Cross To Bier’ is back to business as usual. Vocalist Chad Gray delivering the schizophrenic type vocal that gave Mudvayne their identity. For us it’s one of the stronger tracks on this album but still doesn’t really blow us away. That’s the main issue here: nothing blows us away! It is not a bad album in anyway at all. The musicianship is second to none, the songs are there. It just has that feeling like we have heard it all before and to be honest it all feels a bit safe.
‘Hush’ has an interesting opening but they once again head towards that whole metal-ballad thing. We have no problem with bands trying other things out but we’re not sure Hellyeah fans are going to be buying this album for ballads and acoustic numbers (more about that shortly). ‘Say When’ is without a doubt a fantastic song, there are no two ways about it. It is awesome. It is huge, it is as nasty as you want it to be. The drums smash out of the speakers before dropping into a sludging groove. more like this please!
Black December’ enters the ballad zone once again. ‘Feast Or Famine’ goes back to the metal like on the other tracks and closer ‘Hush’ is the same as the one earlier on the album but this time acoustic.
All in all Blood For Blood is a good metal album but, we hate to say this, it’s just a little boring. Like we said earlier, it all feels a little too safe. It basically has too gears. Heavy and soft metal. It will have its fans, people will continue to go watch them live, mainly due to their history in music but a fanbase is something they will always have. We just wished it showed the kind of ambition that brought these individual members to the dance originally.
