Hell United

Previously Known as Eclypse

Hell United - Extra-Strength of the Obscure

Gorification Musix, 2007

Genre: Black Metal

1. Introit: Miserere

2. Extra-Strength of the Obscure

3. Too Pity, Too Profane

4. Great Expiatory's Suicide

Eclypse: Omen (1999)

5. Omen - Reality's Dark Dream

6. Reflection Inserted to Eternity

I would say "out of the ashes of Eclypse", but pretty much every member in Hell United was involved in that project in some capacity.  So what's the difference?  Well in Eclypse they tried to do a blend of Black Metal and Death Metal, but with the launch of Hell United they've dropped all elements of Death Metal.  Based on Eclypse's full length and listening to this demo I can say this turned out to be quite an excellent decision on the bands behalf.

While "Applause" was an alright album, the Eclypse project just didn't have the presence Hell United seems to have.  I think this is an interesting switch to see because I see a lot of Black Metal bands switching to Death Metal, rather than the other way around such as Bloodthorn and Behemoth for example.  The Death Metal influence can sometimes be heard in riffs during "Great Expiatory's Suicide".  Hell United manage to clearly generate an excellent and foreboding atmosphere in their music.  However, Hell United are fast and vicious as Eclypse was.  I feel like the interplay between the lead and rhythm guitars got more thoughtful in the way they compose these songs.  They had that in Eclypse too, but I think it stands out more here and enhances the music so much more.

As a bonus on this release they've included the first demo from Eclypse.  I think the songs on "Omen" are actually very good.  The two tracks are far more Black Metal than the other Eclypse material I've heard, so it does fit within the realm of Hell United pretty well.  However, there really is no contest here that the Hell United tracks are a lot better.  "Omen" is a little slower and not nearly as vicious sounding as the Hell United material.

I'm not sure if my tape has issues with it or if there's production problems.  Or hell... if there was an issue in creating the copies of the tape.  But things are a little fuzzy on this demo.  It's definitely not ideal listening, but you can certainly tell that in a well produced setting this band will truly shine!  However, my tape may have been copied with a volume level that was quite too high.  It really feels like everything on the recording is peaking.  The only reason I think it might be a dub or recording is is because the "Omen" part of the demo sounds fine.

In the end when you see Hell United be prepared for a dark and violent journey into their world.  While this demo may not have had the best production, I can only imagine their full length studio works are going to be some of the more compelling Black Metal being made in Poland today!

Eclypse

Changed Name to Hell United

Eclypse - Applause: IHVH Elohim Met
Redrum666, 2004
Genre: Black/Death Metal

1. Apostasy
2. Procession of Blind
3. Sick.Sin.Skin
4. Allegory of Suffering
5. Ain Sof Aur
6. Black Coronation
7. New Führer
8. Dyscrasia
9. Manifestation of V Stabbing Wounds
10. After the Sepulture (Samael Cover)





Let me start this by saying I really enjoyed Hell United, which eventually lead to me tracking down this bands earlier incarnation as Eclypse.  I'm usually fairly adamant on reviewing everything a band puts out, but I think their demo "Omen" is long gone and the only version I have is a re-release with a Hell United demo.  I'm not sure how well it transferred over.  Then everything that was on "New Führer" promo appeared on this album, so I don't see much of a point in tracking that down.

"Applause" starts off very strong with a child stating "Jesus is dead" in a very mocking manner.  Then it just launches into one of the stronger tracks on the album "Apostasy".  Eclypse play a sort of Black/Death Metal blend and sometimes they are very successful at this and other times I feel they can be rather bland.  Some aspects sound totally taken from the book of Vader or Behemoth and these parts sound pretty good, especially since Eclypse has more of a Black Metal leaning.  Unfortunately, on some tracks they try to throw in a lot more technical elements like on "Procession of Blind".  The main reason this doesn't work for Eclypse is because as soon as they begin doing anything technical all aspects of their atmosphere just disappears!  This is just terrible in my opinion and makes the album feel very disjointed in it's arrangement.

The above may sound like a deterrent from listening to this album, but I should emphasize that there is some real strong material on here.  Most of the songs are quite good even if it is an approach I've seen time and time again.  One that's a little different is "Ain Sof Aur" which sounds like something I would hear on early Nile albums with it's ritualistic feel and tone.  The album eventually closes with the Samael cover "After the Sepulture" and Eclypse have put their own sort of twist.  There are no keyboards on this version they really upped the drum performance.  The original version has no blast beats, for example, and Eclypse included them on some parts.  I think they did a great job on doing this and modifying it in their own way.

This album was impeccably recorded as well.  I've come to expect this sort of standard with Death Metal related acts.  One thing I like about Eclypse's production style is that the instruments still feel quite organic.  Despite being released in 2004, things aren't overly digital in feel.  This is something I greatly appreciate.

In the end I think I see where Eclypse was trying to go.  I feel like the band's direction took a turn towards more Black Metal when they switched to being Hell United.  I can see why they decided to change names in that regard because Hell United does feel quite a bit like a different project.  I think they really found the right creative elements to write well after Eclypse, but if you're really into Polish Death Metal, listening to Eclypse won't be a waste of your time!  While I, personally, probably won't pull this out very often, it's not something I would shut off if it was on.