Monday 11 January 2016

Hellhookah - Endless Serpents (Album Review)


Release date: 1st Quarter 2016. Label: NoSlip Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Endless Serpents – Tracklisting

1. A Storm In The Hidden World
2. Endless Serpents
3. The Way
4. No Brakes
5. The Overman's Eye
6. Free Fall (Instrumental)
7. Born Too Late (Saint Vitus - Cover)

Band Members:

Arnas (guitars/vocals)
Gintarė (drums)

Review:

I've been hearing a lot of great things about Lithuanian Doom Metal duo – Hellhookah. They've been teasing a few tracks their upcoming debut album for the last few months now.

Well I've been lucky enough to listen to the full debut album by Hellhookah and how can I put this nicely. “IT'S A HUGE FUCKING MONSTER OF DOOM EPIC PROPORTIONS.” It's hard to believe this is a duo as this band is very loud and I mean VERY LOUD. If you're a fan of Saint Vitus, Black Sabbath, Sleep and Electric Wizard be prepared to sell your soul to SATAN and worship the mighty riff of HELLHOOKAH.

Hellhookah play Doom Metal that's creaking with deadly FUZZ as the guitars are very loud and the drums offer a slow-pounding violent beat. When everything comes together Hellhookah unleash some violent based noise. The first 3 tracks you may of already heard on BandCamp but they sound even better which isn't surprising since Tony Reed of Mos Generator fame has worked his magic mastering this album.

I'm not even going to do a song-by-song review as this album needs to be played in it's entirety. No breaks, just press play and immerse yourself with the dark and murky world that Hellhookah create. Arnas's vocals whilst not the most professional does add a creepy and unforgiving tone that fans of Black Sabbath/Saint Vitus will admire.

The lyrics could of done with some work but nothing to deter you from enjoying the heavy riffs on show as Hellhookah really come alive on the 2nd half of the album. The songs you haven't heard such as No Brakes, The Overman's Eye, Free Fall and Hellhookah's cover of the Saint Vitus classic – Born Too Late. The album does have moments of Blues Rock, Classic Rock and Stoner Rock riffs appearing through out the album. Though it's buried under a ton of heavy Doom Metal sounds.

Some people may think Hellhookah may not offer anything new and that's true to a point but it's what they do with their sound that make such Hellhookah such an exciting prospect. Give them another couple of releases or so and I can see Hellhookah making a name for themselves and perhaps appearing at some of the more prestigious Doom/Stoner Metal festivals.

All in all this is an excellent album for all you serious Doom Metal fans. Check it out when it's released on ace record label – NoSlip Records – who will be releasing Endless Serpent on CD in the next few months and Vinyl in Summer 2016.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Robert at NoSlip Records for the promo. Endless Serpent will be available to buy on CD/DD via NoSlip Records within the first quarter of 2016. Vinyl Record will be released via NoSlip Records around Summer 2016.

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