Hell (band)
Encyclopedia
Hell are 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 1980's, 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 #46 on the German album chart in it's first week of release.
, 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.
The remaining original members of Hell reunited in 2008 to to finally record their album. 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.
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, Download Festival
and Bloodstock Open Air
in the UK, Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
in Finland, and Summer Breeze Open Air
in Germany. The band then went onto perform on the Sweden Rock Cruise, and closed out 2011 with European tour dates supporting Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
on the 'Darkness Over Xmas' shows.
and the Bubonic Plague
. Although primarily guitar-driven, the band's sound is fleshed out by the intelligent and thoughtful 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 series of atmospheric, theatrical interludes and introductions to many songs.
Past Members
EPs
Demos
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band from Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, 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
Corpse paint
Corpse paint or corpsepaint is a style of black-and-white makeup, used mainly by black metal bands during live concerts and photo shoots. The makeup is used to intensify the bands' imagery of evil, inhumanity, and corpse-like decay. It is most commonly used just on the face, but also on arms and...
as part of their stage show, which features hysterical ranting from a Gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
- adorned pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
, along with the use of a pyrotechnic exploding Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
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 1980's, their music became known through the underground tape trading
Tape trading
Tape trading is an unofficial method of distribution of demo tapes encompassing musical genres such as punk, hardcore, and extreme metal. The practice which was most prevalent during the 1980s and 1990s, also saw people distribute recordings of live music shows...
phenomenon, and the band achieved a degree of cult status. In 2008 they reunited, and were signed by Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
. Their first full-length album, Human Remains, was released May 2011. The album topped at #46 on the German album chart in it's first week of release.
Biography
Hell was founded in 1982, in DerbyshireDerbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
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
Andy Sneap
Andy "Undie" Sneap is an English record producer, recording engineer, mixer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is best known for producing and mixing many acclaimed heavy metal albums.-Musician:...
(later to form heavy metal band Sabbat
Sabbat (band)
Sabbat are a thrash metal band from Nottingham, England, currently consisting of Martin Walkyier , Andy Sneap , Simon Jones , Gizz Butt and Simon Negus . Over the years Sabbat have released three studio albums, four demos, two split singles/compilation albums, two singles and a live VHS...
) to play guitar and Sneap mentions Hell as one of his main influences.
The remaining original members of Hell reunited in 2008 to to finally record their album. Sabbat members Martin Walkyier
Martin Walkyier
Martin Walkyier is an English singer who began his career with thrash metal band Sabbat in the late 1980s, releasing two albums. After leaving Sabbat in 1990 due to differences with other band members, Walkyier teamed up with guitarist Steve Ramsey to form a heavy metal band with strong folk...
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.
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, Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...
and Bloodstock Open Air
Bloodstock Open Air
Bloodstock Open Air is a heavy metal festival held annually at Catton Hall in Walton-upon-Trent, England, since 2005. Previous line-ups have included bands such as Opeth , Children of Bodom , Nightwish , Cradle of Filth , Testament , Arch Enemy , Europe and Twisted Sister .Originally on one stage...
in the UK, Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, shortly Tuska , is the largest music festival dedicated only to metal and related styles of music in the Nordic countries. The history of Tuska began in 1998 and it has grown larger every year. The location of the festival has been in Kaisaniemi park in the middle of...
in Finland, and Summer Breeze Open Air
Summer Breeze Open Air
Summer Breeze Open Air is a heavy metal music festival in Germany. It takes place annually in Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria. It was first held in 1997. The festival had been held in Abtsgmünd until 2006 when it was moved to its new location of Dinkelsbühl. The festival draws around 40,000 attendees annually...
in Germany. The band then went onto perform on the Sweden Rock Cruise, and closed out 2011 with European tour dates supporting Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter is a Weimar, Germany based heavy metal band signed to Nuclear Blast in Europe and The End Records in North America...
on the 'Darkness Over Xmas' shows.
Musical Style
Hell are most often described as a NWOBHM band, although they have distanced themselves from this movement in several interviews, citing that the NWOBHM movement was already in rapid decline by the time the band 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 DeathBlack Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
and the Bubonic Plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
. Although primarily guitar-driven, the band's sound is fleshed out by the intelligent and thoughtful 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 series of atmospheric, theatrical interludes and introductions to many songs.
Band Members
Current Members- David Bower - vocals (2010–present)
- Kev Bower - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, vocals (1982–1987, 2008–present) - Tim Bowler - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(1982–1987, 2008–present) - Andy SneapAndy SneapAndy "Undie" Sneap is an English record producer, recording engineer, mixer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is best known for producing and mixing many acclaimed heavy metal albums.-Musician:...
- guitar (2008–present) - Tony Speakman - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1982–1987, 2008–present)
Past Members
- Dave G. Halliday - vocals, guitar (1982–1987)
- Sean Kelley - guitar (1987)
- Martin WalkyierMartin WalkyierMartin Walkyier is an English singer who began his career with thrash metal band Sabbat in the late 1980s, releasing two albums. After leaving Sabbat in 1990 due to differences with other band members, Walkyier teamed up with guitarist Steve Ramsey to form a heavy metal band with strong folk...
- vocals (2008–2010)
Discography
Studio albums- Human Remains (2011) Nuclear BlastNuclear BlastNuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
EPs
- Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us (1983) Self-financed by the band and released on their own 'Deadly Weapon' label
- Save Us (2011) Nuclear BlastNuclear BlastNuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
Demos
- Hell (1982)
- Scheming Demons (1982)
- Demo 1982 (1982)
- Demo 1986 (1986)