This Is Hell was unavoidable in 2004. Whether it was This Is Hell's demo that quickly sold out, their rabid touring or people uttering, "This is hell..." after President Bush was elected, the band couldn't be ignored. Well boys and girls, This Is Hell will even be harder to ignore in 2005 with the wheels of the touring juggernaut beginning to turn and the release of the self titled EP on State of Mind. Although the demo released was like a burrito, this newly released EP surpasses this Mexican treat by progressing further and rounding out the edges. This Is Hell (EP) is like a condom loaded with cum waiting to invade ovaries; it will multiply inside your ears until your speakers bust from the loud volume.
If this album was a cannon, the ammunition would be four new songs, a redone demo song and a cover of 108's "When Death Closes Your Eyes." This Is Hell play a style of melodic hardcore wrapped in a blanket of darkness. What's great about this blanket is that it doesn't have pumpkins and bats; it doesn't go into that cheesy "spooky" realm. This slight blackness just shadows the really well done melodic sound, without overpowering it. The awesome artwork of the "gnarly mummy" definitely adds to this feeling. With the brass knuckle/blood streak thing getting overplayed a really well done monster definitely kicks ass.
For the fans of the demo, don't worry: not much has changed. The recording/mixing is better so everything isn't as muddy. The redone song "Heaven Sent, Hell Bound" exemplifies this change. The extra guitar tracks thrown in make the song sound bigger. "Moving Targets," at about 0:31, features these rad sounding guitar parts that really separate This Is Hell from the mediocore. The little parts like this throughout This Is Hell's song are appreciated.
A lot of times when a band gets a better recording the intensity seems to get lost, but here we have the opposite. The vocals are just as passionate with gang vocals ready to barge in when appropriate. Jeff Tiu takes advantage of his "backup vocal" position by adding vocal variety. The lyrics were one of my definite highlights of the demo. This EP doesn't disappoint in that department. The line, "We built this life and now it's ours," will be all over MySpace in no time. I could never get into Glassjaw because of Daryl Pumbo's vocals, but they work really well with the part he does; they're very throttled.
As good as this EP is, only introducing four new songs gets me going but won't finish me off. That requires peanut butter and pliers. I guess that's why this is only an EP; a taste of what's to come. Song by song, this is some of the best hardcore I've heard from the 00's. But god damn it, bring us a full length, This Is Hell. Until then, I will continue eating at High Tech Burrito with my iPod and headphones rocking this EP.
