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HELLDORADOS
Lessons In Decay

Massacre (2014)
Rating: 5/10

Lessons In Decay is the second album from German rockers Helldorados and it’s one that remains upbeat throughout, even if the overall feel is one of an album lacking weight and maturity.

Even so, this is upbeat hard rock with heaps of melody, a sprig of grit and the sort of tongue-in-cheek buoyancy we can all appreciate every now and then. The album boasts 11 solid tracks which – although edgy in places – appear as though they are straining at the leash, the result being that in spite of some steady grooves the album lacks fire and remains a touch too polished.

With tracks such as ‘In For The Kill’ and ‘By The Progress’ we’re treated to rather standard heavy rock plodders, the sort of generic stompers that tend to suffer in the vocal department. Helldorados come across like a rather meagre Judas Priest where the licks are scant reward, even when the combo lurches into oilier speed metal territory with the likes of ‘Megalomaniac’ and it’s twin-sizzling sister ‘To Live Is To Die’ with its attempted opening of frenzy which falls somewhere short of being molten.

I’m a tad confused, however. Although very straightforward in its approach, Lessons In Decay also tries hard at variety. ‘Anytime, Anywhere’ has a sort of bubblegum rock vibe about it; typically 80s and yet tepid, it struggles to find its feet alongside the heavier numbers. It feels as if this band just doesn’t know what it wants to be, hence the rather watery anthem ‘We Won’t Back Down’ trudging lazily alongside the more aggressive rattle of ‘Something Sweet’, but to call it metal would be a travesty.

Although at times it has that early 80s New Wave Of British Heavy Metal feel, the vocals just do not sit right with me; the result being a rather odd blend of poppy rock and hardy humour, suggesting that they’ve much to learn in the songwriting department. Although the solos attempt some reach for the metallic, this is an album that just flits by in amateurish fashion, combining a sort of loose Thin Lizzy-styled vibe (‘Wake Up Dead’) with something else not quite formed, and so Helldorados really do fall short in almost every department.

Extremely inoffensive, these guys have carved out a record that sporadically bops but also lacks any weight or identity. For me, it’s a case of major improvements needed or the axe will fall.

Neil Arnold

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