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HELL POISON
Breathing For The Filth

Bestial Invasion (2021)
Rating: 7.5/10

As one-man bands go, Brazil’s Hell Poison is right up there with the best. Being the creation of one Deathammer, Hell Poison has existed for seven years, and within that time has released a couple of demos, one full-length release (2019’s Burn With Me) and been involved in several split projects.

Now comes the second offering upon the altar and it’s another no frills blitzkrieg of blazing blackened thrash – the sort of familiar yet pulverising ride that spills beer and guts goats. For just under 30-minutes you’ll get ravaged by a flurry of rusty, rollicking tracks which take the recognisable Motörhead premise of speed n’ bunk mixed with the natural progression of black speed.

‘Monday Lust (May 06th)’ is a straight up nifty spellcaster of speed yet oily melody. Deathammer’s vocals are a no frills rasp amidst the torrents of chain-swinging speed metal, and that’s the theme throughout. ‘Bloody Tongue’ is Hellhammer with extra haste, ‘Freddy Is Back’ cackles with slick pride and beams with punky festering, while ‘Hell’s Basement’ – based on 80s horror movie Re-Animator – offers an equally snappy design.

You know you’ve heard this sort of attack before, but you can’t help but be whipped into a frenzy by the steadier pinch of the aforementioned ‘Freddy Is Back’ or the clanking clamour of ‘Miles From Nowhere’; the latter probably the fastest and most aggressive slap on the record with its swirling instrumentation, whirlwind percussion and scathing guitars. Indeed, there’s a strong sense of an obscure nature about this thrashing mayhem, Brazil of course being one of the founding nations for such blazing spits of aggression.

‘When The Midnight Bell Rings’ opens atmospherically and trudges in doomy fashion before the fire of the riffs fizz in and it’s back to type. The same goes for ‘Bite On Your Feet’ with its suspenseful opening hiss and fizzle, but this one feels far more traditional in its design, although again you can hear everything from Motörhead to Voivod, Venom to Bulldozer, and Poison Idea in between as Deathammer spits in spiteful fashion above the chaos and creation of his own scathing, sneering dynamics.

‘Cursed Soul’ brings dollops of metal alongside punky attitude and melody, bringing to a close this blunt, to the point opus that takes the basic themes of punk, black metal and thrash and throws it all into a blender. The result is a no frills yet wiry fusion of familiar styles which should still provide enough bite to keep you engrossed.

Neil Arnold

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