Hell is an English heavy metal band from Derbyshire, formed in 1982 from the remaining members of bands Race Against Time and Paralex. Due to a series of unfortunate and tragic events, the band originally folded in 1987, but were generally regarded as being many years ahead of their time, and have been cited as an influence by many notable musicians and bands of the genre. They were amongst the first bands to wear proto-corpse paint as part of their stage show, which features hysterical ranting from a Gargoyle- adorned pulpit, along with the use of a pyrotechnic exploding Bible which caused outrage amongst the clergy when it originally appeared in 1983.
Although they were largely ignored by the media and record companies in the 1980s, their music became known through the underground tape trading phenomenon, and the band achieved a degree of cult status. In 2008 they reunited, and were signed by Nuclear Blast. Their first full-length album, Human Remains, was released May 2011. The album topped at No. 46 on the German album chart in its first week of release.
Biography edit:
Hell was founded in 1982, in Derbyshire, England. They signed to the Belgian label Mausoleum, but two weeks prior to the recording of their debut album, the label collapsed into bankruptcy. Kev Bower subsequently quit the band. He was briefly replaced by Sean Kelley, though Hell split up soon afterwards, which led to the suicide of Dave Halliday by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Dave Halliday taught Andy Sneap (later to form heavy metal band Sabbat) to play guitar and Sneap mentions Hell as one of his main influences. Sneap subsequently went onto become a world-renowned record producer, with over 100 albums to his credit.
The remaining original members of Hell reunited in 2008 to finally record their album which was entitled 'Human Remains'. Sabbat members Martin Walkyier and Andy Sneap agreed to play on the album to replicate Dave Halliday's vocals and guitar tracks respectively, with Sneap also acting as the producer. Although Walkyier completed recording vocals for the entire album, the band have stated that no-one was really happy with the outcome since Walkyier's voice was so distinctive, and the result sounded "more like an unreleased set of Sabbat songs". Kev Bower's brother David (who is known as David Beckford in his career as a stage and television actor) was invited to do a voiceover for the song 'Plague And Fyre' and subsequently joined the band as lead vocalist, re-recording all the lead vocal parts. Sneap subsequently also joined the band as their permanent second guitarist.
2011 edit:
The new lineup played their first gig at the MFN club in Nottingham on 20/05/2011, playing songs from Human Remains and also Race Against Time's "Bedtime" as a tribute to David Halliday. This was rapidly followed up by a run of festival shows in Europe and the UK, including Metalfest Open Airs in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, Rockstad Falun in Sweden, UK's Download Festival, Tuska Open Air Metal Festival in Finland, Summer Breeze Open Air in Germany, and Bloodstock Open Air in the UK, for which they received the '2011 Best Mainstage Performance' vote. The band then went onto perform on the Sweden Rock Cruise, and closed out 2011 by having the Human Remains album being awarded Sweden Rock Magazine's '2011 Album Of The Year', as well as attaining position No. 6 in the Metal Hammer 'Best Of 2011' list. The album also attained 'Best Of 2011' accolades on many internet webzines, as well as being nominated '2011 Album Of The Year' on the Bloodstock Open Air user forum.
2012 edit:
Hell opened their 2012 show run with a mainstage appearance at the Hammerfest (festival) in Prestatyn, North Wales. This was followed by the band gaining a prestigious support slot with Accept for the whole of their 'Stalingrad' European tour, which started at Le Bataclan in Paris on April 6. The band were also nominated for a Metal Hammer 'Golden Gods' award in the magazine's 'Metal As F*ck' category. Numerous additional European shows were also played, including the Rock Hard Festival at the German Gelsenkirchen Amphitheatre, with this show being filmed and subsequently broadcast by WDR TV on the long-running Rockpalast mainstream TV show. Scandinavian shows included headlining appearances at the 'Muskelrock' and 'Metal Magic' festivals in Sweden and Denmark respectively, along with a 'Sweden Stage' appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival. The band also featured in the July 2012 issue of the UK's 'Metal Hammer' magazine, in which they appeared in a 3-page article. Hell's 2012 tour run also included their first shows in Eastern Europe at the Masters of Rock (festival) in the Czech Republic and Metalcamp in Slovenia, along with appearances at the Alcatraz (BE), Zwarte Cross (NL), and Into The Grave (NL) festivals. They closed out the year with headlining appearances in Dublin (IRE), a town festival at Molins de Rei near Barcelona (ES), and played their final show of 2012 at Rommelrock in Maasmechelen (BE), thus completing the 'Human Remains' tour run which had taken the band to no less than 16 different countries. Hell also entered the studio late in the year to commence work on the follow-up album to 'Human Remains'.
2013 edit:
By the beginning of 2013, Kev Bower and Andy Sneap had completed demo recordings for the majority of songs which would appear on the band's sophomore album, with recording proper set to commence in the Spring. Since no early demo recordings were this time available to fill a bonus disc, the band elected to record a live DVD as a bonus complement to the album, and this was shot and recorded at the band's first 2013 show at Derby Assembly Rooms (UK) on February 23. The sellout event also unveiled the band's full 'Church Of Hell' stage set and pyrotechnic show, with fans travelling from 13 different countries to attend.
Musical Style edit:
Hell are most often described as a NWOBHM band, although they strongly distance themselves from this movement, citing that the NWOBHM was already in rapid decline by the time the band actually formed. Their progressive musical style incorporates elements of thrash, power, symphonic, gothic, speed, doom and black metal, encompassing great variety, and with no two songs ever sounding exactly alike. Underlying lyrical themes in much Hell material focuses on the occult and the darker sides of human nature. Typical themes include a distaste for organised religion, alien abduction, political imprisonment, mental illness, and historical events such as the Black Death and the Bubonic Plague. Although primarily guitar-driven, the band's sound is fleshed out by the use of keyboards and digital sampling to add depth and texture to the material. Their approach to songwriting is often unorthodox, with numerous complex tempo, time signature and key changes, along with a signature series of atmospheric, theatrical interludes and introductions to their songs.
Band Members edit:
Current Members
David Bower - vocals (2010-present),
Kev Bower - guitar, keyboard, vocals (1982-1987, 2008-present),
Tim Bowler - drums (1982-1987, 2008-present),
Andy Sneap - guitar (2008-present),
Tony Speakman - bass (1982-1987, 2008-present),
Past Members
Dave G. Halliday - vocals, guitar (1982-1987) (deceased),
Sean Kelley - guitar (1987)
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