Hell-Born

Hell-Born & Offence - Hellbound Hearts

Putrid Cult, 2019

Genre: Death Metal

Hell-Born:

1. Soulrape

2. Hellraiser (Cenobite Cut)

3. Devourer of Souls

4. Darkness

Offence:

5. The Carnal Pact

6. A Slave of the Ancient Race

7. Holy Vermin (Live)

8. Rape Anger War (Live)

9. Hang Him! (Live)

Side Offence: ...coming eventually...

Side Hell-Born:

It has been a really really long time since we've heard from the world of Hell-Born and after a really long hiatus they've returned with a split. Now this was originally released as a Vinyl 7" format, but shortly after that came out the CD was also released with extra tracks. As soon as I saw this hit I ordered it, because I've been a fan of the project long enough and I quite like the music Offence plays as well, so even if I didn't like one side I'd probably enjoy the other at least. So, after delving into their discography this is kind of a different sound than I was expecting from Hell-Born. Naturally Hell-Born has a new drummer and this time they team up with Diabolizer who has been playing with Throneum and Zmora. He's also been in a number of other bands and recorded a lot more material in the raw Black Metal style.

Instead of that powerful, huge guitar and crushing tone I expect from the project, the guitars are pretty thinned out on these recordings. I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about that change. While Trauma is getting the biggest guitar tone they've ever gotten, Hell-Born has severely thinned out this edge of their music. With this approach it actually makes their music sound a lot more Black Metal, because the production just isn't as big and their riffs could lean that way from time to time. This isn't really the big comeback I was hoping for since "Soulrape" only clocks in at about three minutes. This song feels really old school, like old Slayer from the 80's almost. This could be a boon for some people, but it's not quite what I was expecting from Hell-Born. It's a decent song in this style, just not exactly what I wanted when I pick up a Hell-Born release. The second song is a re-recording of "Hellraiser" originally found all the way back on their debut EP from '96. So, it was interesting to see them revisit this song. However, given the old feel and raw recording of "Soulrape" their re-recording of "Hellraiser" actually fits pretty well within this framework. It was really nice to hear "Hellraiser" with much tighter drumming though. The two extra songs sound like live rehearsal songs, but they could also just be live recordings. It's tough to tell because there's no information about this bonus tracks. All the booklet information is just a repeat from the 7" imagine.

So, if you were really excited about the return of Hell-Born like I was, you should be aware that the project seems to be very different. However, I know splits are sort of a way to experiment with a new idea, so when they get into the studio for a full-length things might change quite a bit for all we know. I do think Hell-Born does better with a heavier and bigger production value like their last few albums, so I'd love to see that return for them. If you're a Hell-Born fan, I think this is worth checking out at the very least just to see what direction they're going in. But if a new album is forthcoming... we'll see what the future holds for them.

Hell-Born - Darkness

Witching Hour Productions, 2008

Genre: Death Metal

1. Refuse to Serve

2. (I am) the Thorn in the Crown

3. Curse Me and I Win

4. Darkness

5. In Satan We Trust

6. Submission

7. The Black of Me

8. Hellfire

9. Dead Don't Preach

Live in St. Paul, MN 2003:

10. Rise the Dead

11. Hell-Born

12. The Call of Megiddo

13. The Art of Necromancy

14. Hollow the Beast

15. The Day of Wrath

After a release like "Cursed Infernal Steel" it was going to be tough for Hell-Born to top that and I was a little nervous when I first finally tracked this album down. It was actually pretty hard for me to get this when it came out and I wound up having to wait and picked up the limited edition version which was published in 2010, weirdly the limited edition was not the first press... I feel like that was a senseless cash grab kind of thing to do, like the company wanted to have two pressing runs so two years after the first one, get people to buy the new "limited edition." It wouldn't be that big of a deal if it actually gave some cool stuff, but this is literally just a crappy live show from the US. There was a bootleg DVD of Hell-Born playing there put out on DVDr and it's everything you expect that to be. It didn't even have a professionally made cover. Anyway, the bonus tracks on here are just the audio extracts from that video. Not really worth getting...

I don't always comment too much on the packaging, but this digipak was weird. Now Mentalporn did the design and layout and normally this company does a great job. But on this album, whatever color scheme they had on their screens did not translate to the printed form at all well. You can barely read any of the lyrics or liner notes on this entire album. It's real shame because the layout and design really do look very cool and usually Witching Hour let's their bands make really excellent booklets and layouts.

Now, we've come to expect line-up changes with Hell-Born at this point, such as they have a new drummer. Because of course they do. This time they bring Paul in who has worked in some major projects such as Vader and Hate. So, he is a more than capable drummer for anything Hell-Born would churn out. However, the line-up change I was not expecting is that Jeff is out. The interesting thing is that it does list that the album was composed by Jeff and Les, but for the recording session it's Les and Dino on guitar. Dino is an experienced guitarist and I see he also played on Devilyn's "Artefact" just like another musician Hell-Born worked with in the past. I'm certainly sad to see Jeff go, I'm glad to see he participated on the writing of the album, but this could be a huge blow to the writing output of the project if Les decides to keep things going or pull in new talent.

"Darkness" is definitely a different album for Hell-Born and it's not really the follow-up I was expecting after "Cursed Infernal Steel." In some respects Hell-Born have gone back to their roots of being a little bit of a more traditional Polish Death Metal band. It's a good album with really cool riffs and it's a good deal faster and far more intense than the prior release, but it just doesn't have those riffs that catch you immediately. "Darkness" is actually a far darker album and you could always figure that Hell-Born would trend in this direction and this album focuses more on that style of writing than the catchiness of "Cursed Infernal Steel." It's weird, because I do think Hell-Born is good at writing albums like this, but it doesn't over take the more groove oriented stuff. Now, it's not like there is an absence of catchy riffs, there are definitely catchy sections, listen to the opening of "The Black of Me" or the title track. But amidst this there are these really mean tremelo picked sections that give the entire album a far darker atmosphere. This isn't a bad thing at all really, because as a whole the entire atmosphere of the collection of songs is awesome. When I look at this album as a whole it's really good. They bring back some of that old Deicide style like with some riffs in "Hellfire," but they just do it way better than any modern Deicide release as far as I'm concerned. I just miss the killer grooves of "Cursed Infernal Steel," but I absolutely understand it would be hard to re-produce an album of that nature.

In the end I think "Darkness" is a really good album, but when I go to pick up a Hell-Born album, I'll probably still be going after the last one. For me that is such a killer release, but "Darkness" is still a solid album for sure. It's a got a lot more atmosphere than anything Hell-Born did before and the songs are very well executed. And as usual, the Hertz studio treatment has given yet another Polish Death Metal band one of the most massive sounding projects around.

Hell-Born - Cursed Infernal Steel

Death Solution Productions, 2006

Genre: Death Metal

1. Impaled Archangels

2. The Crown is Mine

3. Empire Deep Down Under

4. The Black Flag of Satan

5. Necromonstrosity

6. Hellspawn

7. When Ancient Horror Lives

8. Stonecold

9. Cursed Infernal Steel

10. Glorious Triumph of Darkness

It's been quite a while since we've heard from Hell-Born and it seems the break has done this band a lot of good. "Cursed Infernal Steel" is absolutely my favorite album from this band. I have constantly revisited this album over the years ever since it was released. This is the sound I absolutely associate with Hell-Born and I think this is the pinnacle of Les' and Jeff's writing style. However, as with all the prior albums the drumming work has been handed over to someone else, which I've come to expect at this time. This time we hear the work of Necrolucas behind the kit and the projects I know him from are Anima Damnata and Mord. So far, I think Necrolucas is the best fit for Hell-Born, I think his drum arrangements really enhance the overall song structure quite a lot even more so than the other drummers they have turned to in the past. It's a shame I'm sure he'll only be here for one album.

"Cursed Infernal Steel" really solidifies that style of groove and darkness I think Hell-Born has sort of been toying around with but never really solidifying on successfully. I'll admit, from a writing standpoint it's definitely a hard trick to pull off. Necrophobic does it, but let's be honest how many bands authentically have emulated that? Hell-Born is sort of working within the same atmospheric wheelhouse as Necrophobic, but it's almost as if Trauma decided to delve into the Necrophobic style. So, we have a much more crushing and powerful sounding Necrophobic if you will. I think that's why I love this album so much, somehow Hell-Born have figured out how to really make this sound work in a really powerful fashion. I also have to really commend Baal on his vocal performance on this one too. He's always been a very capable vocalist and fit with the project very nicely, but on this album his arrangements really stand out to me. He varies up his vocal performance here and there to great effect and it feels like he's arranging his vocals to really fit and enhance the music there rather than just being a capable vocalist.

So, if you're interested in checking out this band I highly recommend you dive into this album first. This is where they really stepped up to create some consistently awesome music through and through. This truly is one of my favorite Death Metal albums around and I haven't really heard anything that comes close to how awesome catchy this is played in this particular fashion.

Hell-Born - Legacy of the Nephilim

Conquer Records, 2003

Genre: Death Metal

1. Supreme Race

2. Devourer of Souls

3. Brimstone Lakes of Pandemonium

4. Lucifer

5. Phantom Infernal

6. The Art of Necromancy

7. Guardians of the Daemongate

8. Legacy of the Nephilim

9. Blacklight of Leviathan

Hell-Born is just cranking out the material. Every year there's something new, which is usually quite an exciting thing, but I feel like this group of three albums from the band are all basically a single style approach. Since there's a new album, apparently that also means there has to be a new drummer, which is surprising given the short span of time between releases. On this one they look to Chris from an old Polish Death Metal band named Ghost to step behind the kit. As with Basti he seems to have a lot of drumming experience so he's definitely a good replacement.

Of the first three albums I think this one is the best, it still has a bit of that generic Deicide feel, but I think "Legacy of the Nephilim" varies things up enough that it doesn't feel trapped in that style. Once again they've recorded in Hertz studio and just about all the Death Metal to come out of that studio is some of the most powerful and heavy sounding around. On this album I think they also tried to build in a lot more atmosphere than before, which generally makes this album sound a lot better, because Les was always good at that part of Damnation. Hell-Born includes a lot more groove in their riffing style so it's an entirely different experience from Damnation, so don't think we're going back to that style here. "Phantom Infernal" has some awesomely dark sections, for example. They've definitely stepped up their writing and I find myself enjoying the majority of songs on here with very few falling into the realms of fairly forgettable like a lot of the songs on the prior album. In this regard I think Hell-Born is finally starting to experiment a bit more with a sound that works for them to keep the listener interested. They try to actively throw in fairly catchy choruses just look at the title track or "The Art of Necromancy."

In the end, after a couple good, but forgettable albums I am finally really looking forward to Hell-Born's future. I think a lot of people won't find this to be a massive stand out release in the Death Metal scene, but I don't think anyone can deny the fact that this is a good album through and through. it's been a long time since I listened to this and this one might be worth revisiting from time to time.

Hell-Born - The Call of Megiddo

Conquer Records, 2002

Genre: Death Metal

1. Hell-Born

2. Legion is Our Name

3. We Bring the Reaper

4. Scepter of the Tomblord

5. The Call of Megiddo

6. With the Gleam of the Eyes of Undead

7. Down Below He Dwells

8. Evil Dawning

"The Call of Megiddo" is really Hell-Born's proper debut full-length as far as I'm concerned. It's all new songs covering a solid eight tracks. This really picks up where "Hellblast" left off and the songs feel like a continuation of that style. There has been some shuffling around in the line-up as they introduce the new drummer Basti, who worked with Devilyn prior to this recording their "Artefact" album. This means Baal is going to be on vocals and he's taking over Bass duties as well. Frankly, it's for the best, Basti is a far superior drummer and with him behind the kit Les was able to push things a little bit more. Now Jeff hasn't left the band, instead he's been moved over to second guitar.

After listening to "Hellblast" you get a bit of an idea of what this band is all about, but with the new drummer in the mix I think Les was able to speed up a lot of stuff. This is starting to trend more back towards a Deicide inspired style in a lot of cases. The evil groove they're generating is definitely inspired by the Hoffman brothers style of riffing. It's not a total Deicide clone like Hate was trying to be in their early days, Hell-Born throws in a degree of that punishing Polish style you've come to expect from their particular brand of Death Metal. It's just with Basti on drums Les was able to speed up the riffs and even include thrashier sections like you hear on the title track. I will say with Basti being so much better at drums the music feels a lot tighter and I feel like it showcases more how good Hell-Born can really sound. With a great drummer you can really do almost anything and Basti delivers that extra push of tightness that Hell-Born was lacking in prior recordings.

"The Call of Megiddo" kind of sits in the same place as "Hellblast" for me. It's not a bad album at all, in fact it's quite a bit better. But it just doesn't stand out. It just feels rather average for some reason, because they are doing quite a lot of things I enjoy... it just doesn't stay with me. I definitely listened to this when it came out and liked it, but it's not an album I return to very often or ever at this point.

Hell-Born - Hellblast

Pagan Records, 2001

Genre: Death Metal

1. Intro

2. Visions of Decline

3. Raise the Dead

4. The Victory

5. Follow the Beast

6. The Day of Wrath

7. Inverted

8. Hellraiser

9. Those are Dead but Shall Rise

10. Merciless Onslaught

At this point with seeing Azarath and Hell-Born show up it started to be somewhat clear there might be issues in the Damnation camp. Ravenlock and Les split off and formed Hell-Born and Bart and Inferno would go on to create Azarath. Hell-Born was first a side project of Les and Ravenlock years ago on the heels of the "Rebel Souls" album from Damnation. So, since this project already existed they decided to resurrect it and start working within its framework. They brought in Jeff, who was briefly involved with Damnation to handle bass duties.

While "Hellblast" might look like a full-length album, its really not. It's five new songs from the project and the self-titled release from '96 tagged on at the end minus the Destruction cover. One of the interesting things about these new songs is how absolutely groove oriented they are most of the time. From Les' Damnation days I've always associated really chaotic guitar work with his style with dashes of atmosphere thrown in for good measure. But Hell-Born is an entirely different approach to everything he's ever really done before. Part of the problem is that I don't think Ravenlock is the blast machine drummer Les has typically worked with, so it's forced him to slow the guitar parts down and think through the writing a bit more. At one in "The Victory" they attempt to jump the speed up, but Ravenlock's blasting just can't keep up with the guitars. I want to say it almost has a bit of an Unleashed feel and approach to the song writing, but done in a very Polish way, if that makes sense. Meaning, Hell-Born is quite a bit darker compared to the likes of Unleashed. They also sound a good deal heavier, which is something I've come to associate with the Polish scene. Really thick guitar tones making the whole production feel a lot heavier compared to a lot of other recordings out there.

"Hellblast" is a cool album and the new songs are good start to the project. I think the only gripe I have is that at times they can feel little too repetitive. Such as the whole ending sequence of the first song "Visions of Decline". That song definitely has parts that repeat far too often. I think the songs get better as they go on and "The Victory" sounds quite varied. They even start including pretty good build ups like the opening of "Follow the Beast."

In the end I did enjoy "Hellblast," but I'm not sure if it will truly stand the test of time and stick in my memory for years to come. I got this a long time ago and I basically couldn't remember anything about it before I put it on to review nearly a decade later. In retrospect it is kind of nice they included the first EP on here as well, because it had been so long since the material had been released. It sounds like it was re-mastered to match the album as well. Still enjoyable at the end of the end of the day though.

Hell-Born - Hell-Born
Pagan Records, 1996
Genre: Black/Death Metal

1. Inverted
2. Hellraiser
3. Those are Dead but Shall Rise
4. Merciless Onslaught
5. Antichrist (Destruction Cover)









This recording is nearly lost to time itself.  Even I nearly missed it when I started collecting the Hell-Born material I already have.  This is a serious piece of history as well since this marks one of the earliest releases from Pagan Records a label still representing some of Poland's finest bands today!  At this time the musicians behind Hell-Born are much more well known for their efforts with the band Damnation, but Hell-Born has distinctly different qualities compared to Damnation and I can see why the projects were separated.

Hell-Born are certainly a Black/Death Metal project, which is different from the more straight forward Death Metal Damnation was presenting us.  So the duo of Les and Ravenclaw put together this very impressive EP to introduce us to some of the other musical ideas the band had kicking around.  I'm not sure what the two had really planned for this project, because I'm sure other musical commitments would consume the two high-profile and in demand musicians for many years before Hell-Born would ever release a full length.  It's sort of sad because this brand of Black/Death is actually quite strong and sounds quite different for it's time.  Ah well, in the same year we got "Rebel souls" from Damnation.  Anyway, Hell-Born play a rather atmosphere infused Black/Death, which gives a very incredible feel to their music.  It's both haunting and catchy at the same time and they manage to balance these elements nearly as well as Necrophobic might.  Hell-Born use a much thicker and Deathier guitar tone compared to other bands, since they really are just using the same tone Damnation uses, but with a slightly different application.  Sometimes this type of writing shows through in Damnation's work, but here we have nothing but that haunting style Damnation can sometimes evoke in their writing.  The Hell-Born EP closes out with a cover of Destructions "Antichrist" and I'm not sure if they've changed much, but with this tone and presentation it certainly has Blackened up the song quite a bit.

In the end this is some great early work from the band and I really wish they had put out more material in the late 90's.  I highly recommend checking out this EP if you like Black/Death Metal, especially if you like things with a sort of old school approach to the writing style.