ANVIL – Hope In Hell

The End Records
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
6.5/10

There’s something uniquely tragic yet endearing about Canada’s metal stalwarts Anvil. Big dumb riffs and big dumb lyrics bely the fact that these guys predate thrash and speed metal and were a big influence on both those cliques, yet as you will know from the movie of several years back, they have blind passion and sometimes misguided self-belief in the face of a world they are obviously out of step with. 100% ROCK MAG can’t help but respect and admire that tenacity and drive.

As such, it’s hard to not like Hope In Hell despite the one dimensional music which hasn’t progressed at all since 1985, or the oft-ridiculous lyrics, such as “Speed to Australia, hot days in the heat, then back to alaska where dogs race to compete… “ from Flying.

Back in the early 80’s Anvil were a meat & potatoes metal band aimed at me and my friends – teenagers in cut off denim jackets festooned with Motorhead and Judas Priest patches. Whilst their contempories evolved or gave up in the past thirty years, Lips & Rob Reiner (alongside new boy Sal Italiano) are still here bashing out cro-magnon metal epics like the title track, Pay The Toll, Rock n’ Roll Badass and Shut The Fuck Up. It’s mindless fun which certainly takes me back to simpler days, and there’s something a little bit special about that, despite what any young metal hipster might think.

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Category: CD Reviews