Hell Fire – Mania

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Formed in 2010 out of San Francisco, California, the heavy metal band HELL FIRE has released three full length albums. Their latest release “Mania” is a fantastic blend of old school speed metal and power metal. If you are a fan of JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN or EXODUS I think you would probably dig this band.

The first song on the list is “Warpath” and the title suits it very well. From Jake Nunn on vocals to Herman Bandala on bass, Tony Campos playing guitar and Mike Smith’s drumming, this song is on a warpath in your ears. This is some of the best pure metal I have heard in a while. “Mania” is superb and kinda brings in more of a thrash sound mixed in with power metal. I really enjoyed this song through and through. “On the Loose” is absolutely on point when it comes to sounding like the old school metal we all know and love. They sound like they just got out of a time machine from the late seventies or early eighties.

“Born to Burn” is incredible and kinda makes me realize what it would sound like if SLAYER and IRON MAIDEN got together and made a song. This one was really good and very epic. “Transcending Evil” is definitely a bad ass power ballad! It has everything I love about power ballads. This may actually be my favorite song so far and I highly recommend this one! “Lashing Out” is a really good song, but when it first starts the only thing I could think of is the movie Rock Star. I had to laugh a little bit, but the song is great.

“Isolator” really fucking good and is the most metal song I have heard on the album so far. It reminds me of ICED EARTH quite a bit which is phenomenal. They really put themselves all the way into this one. “The Dreamer” is one I would definitely listen to on a nice long drive in the summer at night. It’s the easy listening song of the album. “Knights of the Holy” is an epic if I have ever heard one. All of the instruments are played to perfection and the vocals are on point. This is one I will be listening to for quite some time. The final song on the album is “Masochist” and is hands down my pick for best song on the album. It really feels like they’re trying to tell me a story. It has a raw emotion the other songs didn’t have and I bet that’s why they saved the best for last. This whole album was really well orchestrated and I don’t have a single complaint about it. Good job guys!

Songwriting: 9
Memorability: 7
Originality: 7
Production: 9