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Jonathan Williams A lot of bands claim to dwell in darkness, but none of them let on to have as much fun there as Tampa's Hell On Earth. If the cover photo of someone freebasing candy corn didn't give away the band's comical approach, then it's mix of Ministry-like industrial menance, porn slut samples, nursery rhyme sing-songiness, and lowbrow lyricism would make light of Hell On Earth's otherwise spooky excesses. And the band's fascination with drugs, sacrilege and trick-or-treating should also be apparent on songs like the vulgarly amusing "All Hallows' Eve," the Skinny Puppy-esque "Vampire Christ" and the trippier groove of "My God Is Heroin." But all is not fun and games for Hell On Earth's head fiend BillY Tourtelot seems to banish his own personal demons on the decadently groovy "Immune" and the tumultuously heavy "Delete The Program." AIDING & ABETTING Jon Worley Some goth boys from Tampa (I swear to God, I've never seen a scene as weird and, um, natural as the one I experienced when living in Florida a few years back) who play some highly- processed industrial metal. Kinda retro, in its way. Hell on Earth relies on sledgehammer drum machine beats, synched guitar and keyboard riffs and a nice growly vocal presence. Reminds me of the good Ministry albums. Actually, that's a fine touchpoint. These songs are obviously studio creations, though I imagine the boys can do a fair job live. It wouldn't, it couldn't-and shouldn't-sound the same from a stage. That's cool. Just a nice little head trip into the past. These guys really know how to dress up this sound and make it sing. Good enough to make me smile. |