FRENZY FIRE

    

METAL & ROCK REVIEWS

    
             
HOME            
REVIEWS            
ARTISTS            
UPCOMING            
LINKS            
             

 

      
   
   
       
       

Fighting Hard

    
       
       
       
     
             
Hellraiders are a heavy rock band from Italy formed in 2013 releasing the '...Beat To Death!' E.P. in 2015. The E.P. contained six songs of punkish heavy metal, similar in style to Motorhead, Girlschool and Wendy O'Williams. The bands debut full length album 'Fighting Hard' was released in 2020.    
             
Featuring eleven songs, including a cover of a Girlschool classic from 1980, 'Fighting Hard' is thirty five minutes of raw energy and attitude. Hellraiders launch the album with the two and a half minute 'Raiders' Rage', a fast and furious instrumental that sets a pace and tempo akin to the classic sound of traditional heavy metal. Then enter the heavy hitting hard rocking 'Beat To Death', and Hellraiders sound so much more metal than rock. I say that because the band describe themselves as heavy rock! Maybe they're a metallized version of rock! But whatever they are, 'Beat To Death' is the iconic "foot on the monitor" gallop. Picking up the pace and romping furiously 'Hellraiders' has touches of the punk attitude as it forges a path through the metal and rock genres. Early eighties Raven, Girlschool and Rock Goddess spring to mind as influences.    
             
The band is led by the cracking vocals of ThrasherLady...and while the band are definitely not thrash, her vocal style is one hundred percent "heavy metal", immediately recognisable as such. 'Starving For Your Blood' is an all out, flat out, balls out, catchy romp with a chant style chorus for fans everywhere to shout, or scream along to. With absolutely no let up in the blazing pace and high energy, Hellraiders plough on with the thundering 'Cursed By Gods'. A meaty thump, 'Cursed By Gods' owes much of its sound to the iconic NWOBHM evolution. 'They Live' sees, or rather hears, the band drop into the heavy rock genre. While the album so far has been all metal, it now diverts to the heavy rock style the band describe themselves as. Picking up the pace and tempo, and injecting even more energy, is the highly catchy 'Kill For Beer'. Oozing oomph, 'Kill For Beer' is fist pumping metal to get the adrenaline flowing.    
             
'Prince Of Hell' sways down gracefully like an eagle, and soars off into power ballad territory, becoming one helluva heavy hitting ballad. Lighters will be burning bright to this one, with ThrasherLady displaying a much more soulful and mellow vocal performance than anywhere else on the album. One of the bands that has influenced the Hellraiders sound, are the legendary British band Girlschoool, and Hellraiders cover 'Emergency', from the bands 1980 album 'Demolition'. The energetic punk inspired original has been covered brilliantly, with Hellraiders oozing the same style and urgency. As covers go, this is one of the best, and I'm sure Kim McAuliffe and the rest of Girlschool would be proud. The album is brought to a close with the title song 'Fighting Hard' - a blistering speed metal romp that is gonna have head bangers the world over going ballistic with heads nodding back and forth at a highly fast pace. And actually, 'Fighting Hard' is not the final song, but it should most definitely have been - for the final song, or maybe it's a bonus, is an unplugged version of 'They Live'. Much shorter than the original, this version is just a guitar and a glorious, faultless vocal performance by ThrasherLady.    
             
Overall, a blistering romp of "foot on the monitor" heavy metal, highly infectious and definitely a high impact debut release.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Zineaholic PR    
             
             
Top