Hell (British band)

History

Formed in Derbyshire in 1982, Hell signed to Belgium’s Mausoleum Records, but the label went bankrupt just two weeks before the band could record its debut album. Guitarist Kev Bower left, and after a brief stint with replacement Sean Kelley, the group disbanded. Shortly after, vocalist Dave Halliday died by suicide from carbon monoxide poisoning. Halliday had taught Andy Sneap to play guitar; Sneap later founded the heavy metal band Sabbat and credited Hell as a major influence. Sneap went on to become a renowned record producer, working on over 100 albums, winning a Swedish Grammy, and serving as a touring guitarist for Judas Priest.

In 2008, the surviving original members reunited to finally record their album, Human Remains. Sabbat’s Martin Walkyier and Andy Sneap agreed to contribute, with Sneap producing and both aiming to replicate Halliday’s vocals and guitar parts. Walkyier spent a few evenings—not the several months he often claims in social media rants—recording test vocals for several songs, but the process stopped when his vocal style and sharp temperament proved unsuitable. Kev Bower’s brother David, known as actor David Beckford, was brought in to do a voiceover for the track “Plague And Fyre” and then became the lead vocalist, re-recording all lead vocal parts. Sneap also joined the band permanently.

The new lineup played its first show on 20 May 2011 at the MFN club in Nottingham, performing songs from Human Remains and a cover of Race Against Time’s “Bedtime” as a tribute to Halliday. This was followed by festival appearances across Europe and the UK, including Metalfest Open Airs in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria; Rockstad Falun in Sweden; the UK’s Download Festival; Tuska Open Air in Finland; Summer Breeze Open Air in Germany; and Bloodstock Open Air in the UK, where they won the “2011 Best Mainstage Performance” vote. The band also played the Sweden Rock Cruise. By the end of 2011, Human Remains was named Sweden Rock Magazine’s “2011 Album of the Year,” reached number 6 on Metal Hammer’s “Best of 2011” list, earned “Best of 2011” accolades on numerous webzines, and was nominated for “2011 Album of the Year” on the Bloodstock Open Air user forum.

Musical style

Hell are most often described as a new wave of British heavy metal band, though they strongly distance themselves from that movement, noting the NWOBHM was already in rapid decline by the time they formed. Their progressive style incorporates elements of thrash, power, symphonic, gothic, speed, doom and black metal. Lyrical themes focus on the occult and darker sides of human nature, including distaste for organised religion, alien abduction, political imprisonment, mental illness, and historical events such as the Black Death. The sound is guitar-driven but fleshed out by keyboards and digital sampling, with unorthodox songwriting featuring complex tempo, time signature and key changes, and atmospheric theatrical interludes.