Simon Rushworth
It’s been one Hell of a wait but one of the most infamous bands of the 80s British metal scene is finally about to unleash its debut album on the world.
Blink and you missed the first incarnation of Hell after the occult group’s record deal fell through and their founding member and mainstay Dave G Halliday died in tragic circumstances.
But Nuclear Blast will release Human Remains on May 17 and the video to lead single On Earth As It Is In Hell is out now. Hell guitarist Andy Sneap explained: “The video we shot at Wingfield Manor in Derbyshire is literally five miles from where I live and the band used the same location in the video for Deathsquad that they shot in 1983. Director Kristian Havard – who used to be in the band Xentrix – is a friend from when Sabbat used to tour with them in the late 80s, so I called in a few favors.
“The band always were theatrical and out there image-wise. The great thing about Hell is we don’t feel pigeon-holed into any category: we just do what we want. We are not looking at what’s going on around us music-wise playing catch up or following the latest trends. Personally, I think it’s very rare that a concept comes across well on music video, so it was really out of ease to do a live performance. After all, this is really to introduce people to Hell.”
One of the true founding fathers of occult metal and cited as a huge indirect influence to many bands, Hell formed in 1982 from the carcasses of UK metal bands Race Against Time and Paralex – whose three-song White Lightning EP was listed by Metallica as a favorite and was subsequently included on the Lars Ulrich / Geoff Barton “NWOBHM: ’79 Revisited” sampler.