Pure Sweet Hell
The Voyeurs of Utter Destruction as Beauty
Van Williams--Drums, Vocals
Christ Eichhorn--Guitars/bass, keys, dude at large
Guest work by:
Jim Colson, vocals, additional lyrics on tracks 3, 6, 7. Solo by Curran Murphy on track 7, solo by Dean Sternburg on track 9. Produced by Curran Murphy & Pure Sweet Hell.
Did you buy the first demo from 2002? Good for you. But this new full length recording will make you forget the demo ever happened. This is a completely different animal than the demo, which was more a quick peek through an open window. This full length disc is the big picture--as if Ive never heard them before. Its far more mature. The song writing, arrangement, and skill has surpassed even my wildest expectations. This band has that genre bending, driving finger attitude towards what category they fall under. Theres no category of metal they fall under completely, theyre just metal. This is a smooth amalgamation of thrash, doom, death, metal, a splash of gothic, progressive, funky. And thats probably wrong too. Really, I tried to figure out what they were, and who they sounded like to me. They dont give a rats pink and gray ass what theyre called, so why should I? (I do call it Ghoulish Metal, but thats just something for me, meaning nothing to anyone else.)
Having said this is a wild mix of metal, it does work. You dont sit there and go: Oh thats a black element, thats thrash, thats doom. It flows sweetly, but keeps you off balance as far as being able to predict whatll happen next. Drums are something fucking else. Restraint, release, part psychotic, part perfectionist. Expect nothing, and youll get everything. Tightly synchronized, wildly venturous (as in one of the songs has a freaky tribal pattern--Mix that up with what he recorded in 1996, and thats a bit of the picture). Guitars are done very well, balancing the songs. Excellent break downs, buildups, and a prime example of Christs work is on Dr. Death, which guitar parts I can hear for some damn reason when Im not listening to the disc. Very beautiful in that song. Youll catch of glimpse of the doomy vibe, the hard grooving chunk, at times malicious, highly emotional. Long extended notes with this amount of emotional weight carries this miles. The lyrics match the musical intensity perfectly. Extremely intense emotionally. Bared to its bones theyre suggestions of some of the following: suicidal intentions/desires of others close, scathing disgust, third person sexual predation/murderous intentions, deep, all abiding friendship, death, dying, betrayal, the weight of being human--and being needed, retribution. Every song you as a person can completely relate to, on some level. Some passages may hit you differently than others, and on the whole, the lyrics hit me where it hurts. It may be that it parallels my own life at this time, or at others. And I found them difficult to deal with, or face. (And we all know, sooner or later, you personalize some lyrics, intentionally or not.) Heartfelt and gut-wrenching--accentuated by its delivery. Making this that much more powerfully intense. Bass is not dominant. Vocals. Thisll take some most of my vocabulary to even come close to describing. Jim Colson, who adds some lyrics on his mentioned songs, has quite a powerful voice. Its full, not high, with a deeper tone. He has that classic, NWOBHM sound to him. They add dignity and restraint, quite nice by themselves. His lines come in from farther back, mixed at a lower volume -- adding rather than dominating. Van. Straight up, there is some distortion put on the vocals, to enhance the sound he already has going on. The distortion is used here and there, added to make his sound even more threatening, and it works. I love that part personally. There is some layering coming in at different levels. His sound has evolved. This is a supremely confident delivery. Ripping, snarling, torturous, truly beastly. These vocs are seriously pants shitting scary. No death style vocs have scared me since 1990, and this does. Im not talking the typical death vocs where you have to read the lyric sheet to understand them. These are 100% understandable on first listen. Its the depth, the gut ripping delivery, demonically driven, predatory. You will feel like a wounded animal waiting to be finished off after listening to this. Coming in at lower volumes is his regular singing voice, adding an extra line here or there. You wouldnt recognize him, but it is. Production is clear, done very well.
1) Innocence and the Beast--If you did get the demo from 2002, this will be the only song that even remotely resembles that recording. The intro is a childs voice singing the happy greasy, grimy, gopher guts song. Only there to set you up. The guitar grooves are subtle, but they are a grave digging scoop feel to them.
2) Scared About Everything--Sinister vocal delivery, with a touch of distortion to emphasize the right parts. His backing vocals coming in at lower volumes. Short song, thats memorable for its faster parts, as well as those backing vocals.
3) Golgotha on my Mind--Excellent dual vocalist take on this song. The lyrical lines of Jim Colson are of faith lost, delivered with power. The snarling, spitting harshness of Van balances it out. They reflect off of each other easily, with a good versus evil duality. The song reaches speed and chaotic proportions, with excellent drum tracks.
4) Swallow-- Unruly, with excellent grooves going on. Keeps you off balance, then gallops back into the groove, back into the chaos with the solo, which would technically be a pre-solo, then a very frenzied ender. Gotta love the mix up, an element when you least expect it.
5) Undone--The most doom tinged song on the whole disc. Slowly grinding along with heavy riffing, until a break of faster paced passage bashes this around building momentum. Heavy riffing (those long extended notes) breaks this down again, until the ending which is classic with its drawn out vocals and heavy cymbals.
6) Gehenna--Jim starts this off with his beautiful voice, accentuated with a marching like drum pattern. Vans regular singing voice takes over many long verses (? I could be wrong, but according to the liner notes, this should be him. When its not forced, its something to hear!), until his nasty vocals take the song and beat the shit out of it. Short and sweet groove before the tribal patterns in the percussion make the appearance. Jim and Van share layered vocs, another groove. Eventually, each part of the song that is so different from the next, are all mixed together with the ending being a slow fade out. I didnt like this one at all at first, but since has grown on me. 6 minute song that takes it time to pull the elements together -- pushing, pulling, then coming together subtly.
7) Hangfire-- Jim adds what I swear is almost a hard rock delivery which is very catchy. Van adds his harsher elements, and Curran has his solo on this song, with hard chunks going on with the rhythm section. Makes the shoulders sway, and the head nod with approval.
8) Rave Song--Utterly disturbing. Boredom seeks a victim, only to find more boring individuals. The programmed intro makes this sick. The distorted vocals spit and spew warnings, then that trippy intro bit breaks the song down. Build it back up, throw it down again. Back and forth. Excellent song layout, with some psycho guitar work to keep it off balance, added sparingly coming in strong when the song needs it.
9) Take Away--Just a nasty motherfucker once it gets rolling. The minute mark is where this turns into a raging beast. Pummeling drums, rhythm guitar that punctuates everything, then chops it up. The solo blends smoothly in. Vocals are demonically driven, and possibly the most intense on the disc as a whole.
10) The Killers--If I had a left nut, or a right one for that matter, I would gladly give it hear this live! Its one of the most striking songs on the disc. Lyrically/musically it will suck you in--the grooves, chunk, time changes are all the elements needed to make your body move. Truly one of my favorites. Then, ghoulish vocalizations accentuate some lines, slowing dawning on me that I had this song all wrong lyrically. My top pick on the recording.
11) What your pain is--Haunting intro, with heavy riffing balanced with lyrics of revenge.
12) Beautiful Suicide--Intense song, with parts being chaotic, heavy, and reflecting the hefty burden of the lyrics. You only feel in disease--your wasted life--the one you try to hide .so weak from carrying you--I struggle to continue now--your life exists inside a peephole .
13) Dr. Death--This would be the song that hit me the hardest. Haunting keyboard intro, emotive and beautiful guitar work, many break downs, buildups to the solo, with a spoken piece by Jack Kevorkian mixed in. It would be his self-defense closing statement during one of his trials for murder. Vans animalistic vocals seem to take the position of the one who wishes to die, on his/her own terms--poignant, pained, and deeply saddening. This one hit me in the guts, had me spell bound, and while laid out differently than other songs, its going to affect you one way or another.
Must point out the negatives, whether theyre my opinion, or possibly what others might perceive as negatives. This is extremely vocally driven music. Its dominating, all encompassing. Then, add strong vocals on top of it with those provided by Jim Colson. That makes it the equivalent of triply vocally driven. One Van on the mic equals two other men. Then theres the guitar department which would benefit from furious leads ripping through a song, smacking it out around to crazed levels. More leads/insane solos would be a definite asset. Having said that, I love the vocals, and Jims voice took some time to absorb. After that, it became a nice balance between Jims power and control, versus Van ripping the listeners bowels out. It took me many spins to recognize that Van is using his regular voice to sing many versus, layered in between other vocal lines. Im a piss poor guitarist (my guitar is like an Isuzu, Suzuki, or some shit like that), and yeah, Im jealous. I admit it. Back to the topic: Guitars. Rhythm is perfect, working in unison with the songs, and breaking loose on its own at times as well. Its so strong, that you may miss that its just one guy doing all this. When the songwriting, vocals, drums, rhythm are this powerful -- the negatives arent necessarily missed.
Half of this disc is outstanding, full of memorable songs. The remaining songs are split equally between very good, too good/strong. Ive played this bastard time after time, in between classic thrash, black, melodic death, grind, blues, acoustical songs. Its in my car, on my computer, and in the house stereo. The Voyeurs of Utter Destruction as Beauty .got under my skin -- a disc I reach for constantly.
* * * *
www.puresweethell.com for song samples from this release and order information.
Krista
The Voyeurs of Utter Destruction as Beauty
Van Williams--Drums, Vocals
Christ Eichhorn--Guitars/bass, keys, dude at large
Guest work by:
Jim Colson, vocals, additional lyrics on tracks 3, 6, 7. Solo by Curran Murphy on track 7, solo by Dean Sternburg on track 9. Produced by Curran Murphy & Pure Sweet Hell.
Did you buy the first demo from 2002? Good for you. But this new full length recording will make you forget the demo ever happened. This is a completely different animal than the demo, which was more a quick peek through an open window. This full length disc is the big picture--as if Ive never heard them before. Its far more mature. The song writing, arrangement, and skill has surpassed even my wildest expectations. This band has that genre bending, driving finger attitude towards what category they fall under. Theres no category of metal they fall under completely, theyre just metal. This is a smooth amalgamation of thrash, doom, death, metal, a splash of gothic, progressive, funky. And thats probably wrong too. Really, I tried to figure out what they were, and who they sounded like to me. They dont give a rats pink and gray ass what theyre called, so why should I? (I do call it Ghoulish Metal, but thats just something for me, meaning nothing to anyone else.)
Having said this is a wild mix of metal, it does work. You dont sit there and go: Oh thats a black element, thats thrash, thats doom. It flows sweetly, but keeps you off balance as far as being able to predict whatll happen next. Drums are something fucking else. Restraint, release, part psychotic, part perfectionist. Expect nothing, and youll get everything. Tightly synchronized, wildly venturous (as in one of the songs has a freaky tribal pattern--Mix that up with what he recorded in 1996, and thats a bit of the picture). Guitars are done very well, balancing the songs. Excellent break downs, buildups, and a prime example of Christs work is on Dr. Death, which guitar parts I can hear for some damn reason when Im not listening to the disc. Very beautiful in that song. Youll catch of glimpse of the doomy vibe, the hard grooving chunk, at times malicious, highly emotional. Long extended notes with this amount of emotional weight carries this miles. The lyrics match the musical intensity perfectly. Extremely intense emotionally. Bared to its bones theyre suggestions of some of the following: suicidal intentions/desires of others close, scathing disgust, third person sexual predation/murderous intentions, deep, all abiding friendship, death, dying, betrayal, the weight of being human--and being needed, retribution. Every song you as a person can completely relate to, on some level. Some passages may hit you differently than others, and on the whole, the lyrics hit me where it hurts. It may be that it parallels my own life at this time, or at others. And I found them difficult to deal with, or face. (And we all know, sooner or later, you personalize some lyrics, intentionally or not.) Heartfelt and gut-wrenching--accentuated by its delivery. Making this that much more powerfully intense. Bass is not dominant. Vocals. Thisll take some most of my vocabulary to even come close to describing. Jim Colson, who adds some lyrics on his mentioned songs, has quite a powerful voice. Its full, not high, with a deeper tone. He has that classic, NWOBHM sound to him. They add dignity and restraint, quite nice by themselves. His lines come in from farther back, mixed at a lower volume -- adding rather than dominating. Van. Straight up, there is some distortion put on the vocals, to enhance the sound he already has going on. The distortion is used here and there, added to make his sound even more threatening, and it works. I love that part personally. There is some layering coming in at different levels. His sound has evolved. This is a supremely confident delivery. Ripping, snarling, torturous, truly beastly. These vocs are seriously pants shitting scary. No death style vocs have scared me since 1990, and this does. Im not talking the typical death vocs where you have to read the lyric sheet to understand them. These are 100% understandable on first listen. Its the depth, the gut ripping delivery, demonically driven, predatory. You will feel like a wounded animal waiting to be finished off after listening to this. Coming in at lower volumes is his regular singing voice, adding an extra line here or there. You wouldnt recognize him, but it is. Production is clear, done very well.
1) Innocence and the Beast--If you did get the demo from 2002, this will be the only song that even remotely resembles that recording. The intro is a childs voice singing the happy greasy, grimy, gopher guts song. Only there to set you up. The guitar grooves are subtle, but they are a grave digging scoop feel to them.
2) Scared About Everything--Sinister vocal delivery, with a touch of distortion to emphasize the right parts. His backing vocals coming in at lower volumes. Short song, thats memorable for its faster parts, as well as those backing vocals.
3) Golgotha on my Mind--Excellent dual vocalist take on this song. The lyrical lines of Jim Colson are of faith lost, delivered with power. The snarling, spitting harshness of Van balances it out. They reflect off of each other easily, with a good versus evil duality. The song reaches speed and chaotic proportions, with excellent drum tracks.
4) Swallow-- Unruly, with excellent grooves going on. Keeps you off balance, then gallops back into the groove, back into the chaos with the solo, which would technically be a pre-solo, then a very frenzied ender. Gotta love the mix up, an element when you least expect it.
5) Undone--The most doom tinged song on the whole disc. Slowly grinding along with heavy riffing, until a break of faster paced passage bashes this around building momentum. Heavy riffing (those long extended notes) breaks this down again, until the ending which is classic with its drawn out vocals and heavy cymbals.
6) Gehenna--Jim starts this off with his beautiful voice, accentuated with a marching like drum pattern. Vans regular singing voice takes over many long verses (? I could be wrong, but according to the liner notes, this should be him. When its not forced, its something to hear!), until his nasty vocals take the song and beat the shit out of it. Short and sweet groove before the tribal patterns in the percussion make the appearance. Jim and Van share layered vocs, another groove. Eventually, each part of the song that is so different from the next, are all mixed together with the ending being a slow fade out. I didnt like this one at all at first, but since has grown on me. 6 minute song that takes it time to pull the elements together -- pushing, pulling, then coming together subtly.
7) Hangfire-- Jim adds what I swear is almost a hard rock delivery which is very catchy. Van adds his harsher elements, and Curran has his solo on this song, with hard chunks going on with the rhythm section. Makes the shoulders sway, and the head nod with approval.
8) Rave Song--Utterly disturbing. Boredom seeks a victim, only to find more boring individuals. The programmed intro makes this sick. The distorted vocals spit and spew warnings, then that trippy intro bit breaks the song down. Build it back up, throw it down again. Back and forth. Excellent song layout, with some psycho guitar work to keep it off balance, added sparingly coming in strong when the song needs it.
9) Take Away--Just a nasty motherfucker once it gets rolling. The minute mark is where this turns into a raging beast. Pummeling drums, rhythm guitar that punctuates everything, then chops it up. The solo blends smoothly in. Vocals are demonically driven, and possibly the most intense on the disc as a whole.
10) The Killers--If I had a left nut, or a right one for that matter, I would gladly give it hear this live! Its one of the most striking songs on the disc. Lyrically/musically it will suck you in--the grooves, chunk, time changes are all the elements needed to make your body move. Truly one of my favorites. Then, ghoulish vocalizations accentuate some lines, slowing dawning on me that I had this song all wrong lyrically. My top pick on the recording.
11) What your pain is--Haunting intro, with heavy riffing balanced with lyrics of revenge.
12) Beautiful Suicide--Intense song, with parts being chaotic, heavy, and reflecting the hefty burden of the lyrics. You only feel in disease--your wasted life--the one you try to hide .so weak from carrying you--I struggle to continue now--your life exists inside a peephole .
13) Dr. Death--This would be the song that hit me the hardest. Haunting keyboard intro, emotive and beautiful guitar work, many break downs, buildups to the solo, with a spoken piece by Jack Kevorkian mixed in. It would be his self-defense closing statement during one of his trials for murder. Vans animalistic vocals seem to take the position of the one who wishes to die, on his/her own terms--poignant, pained, and deeply saddening. This one hit me in the guts, had me spell bound, and while laid out differently than other songs, its going to affect you one way or another.
Must point out the negatives, whether theyre my opinion, or possibly what others might perceive as negatives. This is extremely vocally driven music. Its dominating, all encompassing. Then, add strong vocals on top of it with those provided by Jim Colson. That makes it the equivalent of triply vocally driven. One Van on the mic equals two other men. Then theres the guitar department which would benefit from furious leads ripping through a song, smacking it out around to crazed levels. More leads/insane solos would be a definite asset. Having said that, I love the vocals, and Jims voice took some time to absorb. After that, it became a nice balance between Jims power and control, versus Van ripping the listeners bowels out. It took me many spins to recognize that Van is using his regular voice to sing many versus, layered in between other vocal lines. Im a piss poor guitarist (my guitar is like an Isuzu, Suzuki, or some shit like that), and yeah, Im jealous. I admit it. Back to the topic: Guitars. Rhythm is perfect, working in unison with the songs, and breaking loose on its own at times as well. Its so strong, that you may miss that its just one guy doing all this. When the songwriting, vocals, drums, rhythm are this powerful -- the negatives arent necessarily missed.
Half of this disc is outstanding, full of memorable songs. The remaining songs are split equally between very good, too good/strong. Ive played this bastard time after time, in between classic thrash, black, melodic death, grind, blues, acoustical songs. Its in my car, on my computer, and in the house stereo. The Voyeurs of Utter Destruction as Beauty .got under my skin -- a disc I reach for constantly.
* * * *
www.puresweethell.com for song samples from this release and order information.
Krista
