Fear My Thoughts - Hell Sweet Hell

Rating

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RIYL

Heaven Shall Burn
All That Remains
Soilwork
In Flames

Label

Lifeforce Records

Tracklist

01. Intro
02. Windows For The Dead
03. In The Hourglass
04. My Delight
05. Sweetest Hell
06. Dying Eyes
07. Sadist Hour
08. The Masters Call
09. Ghosts Of Time
10. Satisfaction Guaranteed
11. The Fighting
12. ...Trying To Feel

Users Rating

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2 ratings

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Recent Ratings

Before I even get into the actual review I would just like to take this moment to make a public service announcement to the entire metal and metalcore scene:

We don’t need any more stupid ass, completely pointless, time wasting intros at the beginning of your albums. Sure, you think you’re “setting the tone” or “building up to the first song” or something along those lines but, in fact, all you manage to do is annoy listeners and make them immediately hit the next button every time they turn on your cd. So kill those intros. Thank you.

After you wade through the 56 second intro of random ambient noise and muted whispers, Fear My Thoughts jump right into “Windows for the Dead”, the opening track for their Lifeforce debut, Hell Sweet Hell. It was a quality choice to put as the opening track since it showcases everything that Fear My Thoughts will be doing throughout the rest of the album, mainly pounding out heavily European influenced, double bass pounding, melodic metal.

Throughout the course of the album, Fear My Thoughts vary their musical attack between a balanced combination of the aforementioned styles, strong Euro-metal tracks, straight ahead metal songs, and crunchy metalcore. They’re easily at their best when combining all of these aspects into one song, but when they focus primarily on only one of their varied influences, things start to break down.

The weakest songs are those that heavily embody their Euro-metal side, simply because they don’t know how to vary that type of approach from song to song. Each strong Euro-metal passage feels extremely similar to every other one on the album, much like many of the moments where an attempt is made at traditional metal guitar licking—-there just isn’t enough variation.

When Fear My Thoughts start to let their sound expand to encompass small additions to their core sound, such as the electronics on “Ghosts of Time” and “Dying Eyes”, the groove-oriented approach on “The Fighting”, or the brooding, slow-paced structure of “Trying to Feel” the band comes off highly listenable. Each of these songs highlights some of the band’s finer moments on Hell Sweet Hell. The unfortunate part about this is that it makes the other songs on the disc feel subpar, or pedestrian, in comparison. Regardless, this is still a fine European influenced metal release that will delight many fans of the genre.

--Rick Gebhardt

Author

Rick Gebhardt
Last updated: 09/29/2009 08:53PM

Comments

Bryan
09/21/2005
11:36PM
You should stick to reviewing Sum 41, Rick. Anybody with even the slightest love for metal would instantly realize that this album is not only quality, but original. Easily one of the best metal releases of the year. Don't listen to Rick!

By the way, nobody wants to hear you cry about intros. If you can't handle 60 seconds of ambience, then go ahead and skip the first track. Sorry that a fraction of a second of your life had been wasted by hitting the next button. Just because you don't think intros are part of the album, doesn't mean anyone agrees with you. In fact, I'm willing to bet than an overwhelming majority of music lovers would disagree with you.

Also, if you've ever been to a show, you'd realize that most album intros are used live to build tension and give the audience a way to make an immediately recognizable connection to the album they're touring for.
Rick Gebhardt
09/22/2005
07:41AM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
Some intros, true, do feel like they belong on a particular cd, but it seems like every metal / metalcore band today puts one on their cd just because it's the trendy thing to do. Usually they're not very well thought out and don't feel natural.

And I go to shows, and rarely do I see bands using their album intros as intros for their shows. I guess I just go see bands that don't need prerecorded shit playing while they come out on stage.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

Bryan
09/23/2005
02:03PM
That still doesn't excuse you from giving a poor review for one of the most solid metal releases of the year.
Rick Gebhardt
09/23/2005
02:36PM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
Bryan
That still doesn't excuse you from giving a poor review for one of the most solid metal releases of the year.

No, it doesn't. Fear My Thoughts not doing anything groundbreaking or exemplary does justify me in giving this release a mediocre review.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

Bryan
09/27/2005
12:13PM
You're just proving my point that you should not be reviewing metal.
Rick Gebhardt
09/27/2005
12:35PM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
Bryan
You're just proving my point that you should not be reviewing metal.

How? You haven't given me any reasons as to why this cd is so amazing, and I'm talking solid reasons here. Not just you going "This cd is teh awesome. You suk! Go review pop-punk." These boards don't have any need for your douchebaggery so go piddle away your time over on theprp forums or read some lambgoat reviews.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

Bryan
09/29/2005
08:17AM
I shouldn't have to give you a play-by-play on every riff and chord progression to tell you why the album is amazing. You lumped them into one of the broadest categories I've ever heard of ("euro-metal") just because they have low-tuned, distorted guitars with harmonies. That is exactly why you have no place reviewing metal. It's kind of like those people who see African-Americans or Asians and say "they all look the same to me".
tim
09/29/2005
07:40PM
Age: 28
Location
Green Brook, NJ
hmm, sounds like this is getting pretty heated, yo. i think bryan has a valid point about the generalization, but i think rick was dead on with the score and most of his other points. but seriously, how ridiculous do you want the metal categorizations to be, bryan? we can't have ten word names for genres. people can read the review and see the band is metal and they do certain metal things, and if they're interested, they can check out the band, and if they're not, they don't have to. but you don't have to be uber-ultra-mega specific about the type of chord progressions they use and name a new genre. that's why we have all these misconceptions and gay terms like 'nintendocore' and 'mallcore' .. wtf. i'm not gonna be like 'screw labeling shit' because i believe in proper categorization, but i have no problems in labeling something 'euro metal' that has euro metal characteristics. just because they use something else doesn't mean you have to say 'post-metalcore screamo death grind' or something ridiculously on target :P

chill pill + bryan = mad necessary. werd. :D
Rick Gebhardt
09/29/2005
08:56PM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
tim
chill pill + bryan = mad necessary. werd. :D

Rad. I laughed my ass off at that line.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

Bryan
10/30/2005
06:33AM
You are partially right, Tim. However, when you categorize a type of music based on a continent, you're being a little too broad.