Defender of Metal

A relatively unknown band from Brazil, Hellish War crafted a mighty debut back in 2001 with “Defender of Metal”. It’s not perfect, but it is a very solid slab of true heavy/power metal, something which should appeal to a fair number of metalheads.

For starters, the album sounds like something that was recorded in 1986. The production is very raw, having none of the gloss that so many albums have today. Mind you, the production is not necessarily “bad” – actually, the rawness is partially what makes this thing so cool. Just as many classics from the 80’s sound so epic with curious yet effective productions, Hellish War have replicated that epic feeling perfectly here, as the album sounds like it was partially recorded live sans any background fan noise. The guitar playing is the real highlight here with excellent melodies, solos, riffs, etc. Most of the longer songs follow a similar pattern of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-long instrumental bridge and so on. These long instrumental bridges are especially fun with multiple solos and some sort of guitar melody that builds in intensity and then starts over a few times before we get back to the singing. For example, take the song “Sacred Sword”, which is probably my favorite on the album. Between the 3 and 8 minute marks we are treated to all sorts of solos and guitar build-ups/slow-downs before the vocalist chimes back in. If Hellish War were a prog metal band these sections might turn into overt wankfests, but that’s clearly not the case – there’s nothing too fancy but the melodies exude emotion and power, a real joy to listen to. “Memories of a Metal” follows a very similar pattern and, consequently, is another awesome song.

The vocalist (Roger Hammer) sounds a bit like Hansi Kursch at times, just with a South American accent. The way he sings makes it a little difficult to understand exactly what he’s saying, so following along with the lyrics really causes you to notice the accent. However, it’s certainly no worse than what’s featured on many Italian power metal albums. Overall he turns in a good performance; just don’t expect a perfect vocalist – just like the music his voice is more about emotion and power than technical competency, and that’s just fine with me.

Furthermore, some of the lyrics are just plain silly and/or grammatically very poor. Again, though, who really cares? When we listen to an obscure South American album titled “Defender of Metal” do we really expect deeply poetic lyrics written in perfect English? Of course not – we want balls-to-the-wall true heavy metal that captures the essence of what metal as a form of music is all about. This is where Hellish War succeed. Fans of traditional heavy metal as well as fans of all sorts of power metal should at least give this a try, if you can find it. Little has been heard from these guys lately, so who knows if we’ll ever see another album from them. If not, well, Hellish War will have recorded one terrific album that, while a bit raw, is simply pure heavy metal, and a blast to listen to. It’s neither fancy nor original but it doesn’t really have to be – it’s just plain fun.