Hellsongs - Hymns In The Key Of 666 (2008)

1. The Trooper
2. Symphony Of Destruction
3. Rock The Night
4. Seasons In The Abyss
5. We're Not Gonna Take It
6. Blackened
7. Thunderstruck
8. Run To The Hills
9. Paranoid
10. Princess Of The Night



Hellsongs are a Swedish band who take old classic rock and metal standards by bands like AC/DC, Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Metallica and Saxon and reinterpret them as twee pop folk songs. It should be awful or at the very least throwaway but it works really well, Seasons In The Abyss in particular is fantastic. A sparse, haunting piano & cello melody accompanies Harriet Ohlsson pleasing accented voice and builds to a chorus you'd never have thought to have originated as a Slayer song. Run To The Hills also works really well, and the plight of them poor Red Indians is made all the more moving when set to a gentle acoustic tune. Sniff. Symphony of destruction is the most upbeat and happy you'll ever hear a Dave Mustaine song sound and, to my ears, is better than the original.

It doesn't always work, Blackened is a little forced and AC/DC's Thunderstruck sounds like it's about to kick in but never actually does and seems stilted because of it, but on the whole this is a great album, especially if you're a sucker for interesting cover versions like myself.

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Foil - Never Got Hip (2000)

1. Never Got Hip
2. Easy Life And Ignominy
3. Superhero No. 1
4. End Of The World
5. Groundwork
6. Half Life Bunker
7. British East India Co. Trafficker
8. Weird Kid
9. I'll Take My Chances
1o. Ghost Of Vernon Howell
11. Claremont Junction Optimist



Foil:
Hugh Duggie (vocals, guitar)
Colin McInally (guitar, vocals)
Shug Anderson (bass)
Alan Findlay (drums)



Scottish band Foil's first album (Spread It all Around) was an enjoyable mix of Britrock and Post Hardcore, full of angry and intelligent songs with a wry sense of humour and enough variation to keep interest. Never Got Hip expands on that and offers even more variety, with brass and string sections cropping up in places. The theme of songwriting is different on Never Got Hip too, Spread It All Around was all songs about being angry whereas a lot of these songs concern different issues. The Ghost Of Vernon Howell is about David Koresh, Easy Life And Ignominy, Groundwork and I'll Take My Chances are all near love songs. I realise that doesn't sound like a whole range of topics but it makes sense to me.

This is one of those albums that needs a couple of listens to preoperly appreciate. I loved Spread It All Around and I was initially disappointed with this album but now I think this is the better album, It sounds more complete, more thoughtful and has its own unique sound whilst showing hints of Fugazi, The Pixies, Half Man Half Biscuit and even Belle And Sebastian in places. It's a great album and it's a shame they never really got anywhere.

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Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat - An Interlude To The Outermost (2007)

1. Prelude (The World Is In Fear Again And It Has All Been Manufactured)
2. The Firesky
3. A Scatterbrain Sings Of Christians And A Ghoul Bares Teeth
4. The Cranes Are Scared Of Sunwords
5. Salt
6. You Will Reap A Whirlwind
7. Beyond The Tanarian Hills
8. Cornflowers For Our Brothers
9. All Movements Are Targets In The Minds Of Tigers



Essentially a one man band (Stef Heeren) from Belgium., this was one of my favourite albums of last year. The name of the band is taken from an old ritual practised by witches in the middle ages and, though musically it sounds medieval a lot of the songs are about war and the apocalypse. Cheery.

This is a very dark and brooding folk album, quite disturbing in places but in a slow menacing way rather than a loud and shocking manner as their name might suggest. mainly acoustic with only minimal electric guitar, instead there's strngs, melodians and suchlike. You Will Reap The Whirlwind creeps along slowly, building up tension over nine minutes to the final crescendo, Beyond The Tanarian Hills (a Rudimentary Peni cover) again lasts over nine minutes but doesn't seem to drag, it instead, instills a unsettling sense of foreboding.

For maximum effect, listen to this album in bed with the lights out though be prepared to have a sleepless night hding under the covers


"Rise up and mould the spearhead.
The world wants war.
So you fluttered but still haven't flown.
You will reap a whirlwind"

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Idha - Melody Inn (1993)

1. High Over Hollywood
2. Red Balloon
3. From Me To You
4. More Love
5. Another Door
6. Stockholm
7. All My Loving
8. Hickory Wind
9. Get Undressed
10. Safe At Home
11. Music Carries On

I bought this about ten years ago just because I was intrigued by the cover, thankfully the music was great as well. It's a very summery sounding album; Upbeat folk with elements of country and pop. There's a very 70's feel to a lot of the songs which is in keeping with the retro artwork and there are three cover versions from that era on this (Red Balloon - Tim Hardin, From Me To You - Janis Ian and Hickory Wind - Gram Parsons) .


Idha Ovelius only ever released two albums, of which this is the first, and is married to Andy Bell (from Oasis). Whether or not those two facts are connected hasn't been established.

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