On disc: Hades

 
 $avior$elf
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Bootlegged In Boston 1988
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 

Bootlegged In Boston 1988

(Cruz del Sur - 2009)



 
 

 

If you are a die-hard thrash metal and Hades fan, then you will welcome this DVD, coz it shows the band at their high time. But as the title suggests it's bootlegged. Well, perhaps not really bootlegged, but filmed with a video camera from the audience. The image quality is not the best and the sound is partly close to a cacophony... If you aren't a true Hades fan, then it's almost impossible to identify the songs! Sure, it shows that the band was really tight and hot to play. But the songs can't really shine on this DVD due to sound and image quality which is a pity. Due to the fact that Hades were supporting Megadeth their stage time was limited and after about 30 minutes it was over - and you might feel a slight nausea from the unsteady camera and the awkward camera moves...

with Inside The Metal you get a 45 minutes long documentary of Hades with interviews and live sequences. Some interview parts are just snippets, then you see some photos taken at different stages of their career and hear some one telling the story of Hades - I guess it's Dan Lorenzo, but due to the varying sound quality of the interview snippets, one can't be sure. Beside that everybody get the chance to speak up. You also get some blurry, shaking video sequences of Non-Fiction live and video clip you might have seen on MTV... The documentary was done around the year 2000 / 2001, I guess, but I have no information about it. Sorry.

As a bonus you et a video clip which was done much later by Dan Lorenzo and his mates. Its a heavy mid-paced rocker, but I confess I don't know the song. At least it has a good audio and image quality.

Well, just for die-hard fans! If you don't have all their albums, then you better spend your money on a regular CD! The look behind the scenes is interesting, but if it's worth the money, I'm not sure... Depends on how often you watch that kind of documentation... It would be great, if some better live recording would pop up and so give the fans a good quality piece, but I guess chances aren't too good... So perhaps you check this one out....





Track list:



Opinionate!

The Leaders?

Diplomatic Immunity

In The Meantime

Aftermath Of Betrayal

I Too Eye

Nightstalker



Inside The Metal documentation (bonus)

bonus video clip
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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$avior$elf

(Metal Blade - 1999)



 
 

 

The US band Hades was founded back in 1978 and released their first demos in the early 80's. Their debut album Resisting Success was released in 1987, they released 2 more studio albums and a live album meanwhile. Now Dan Lorenzo and his mates are back with $aviour$elf. The opening track is also the title track and leads you into the album with slowly, but then they explode and offer a powerful thrash tune. Fast double bass drumming by Dave Lescinsky forces them ahead. Alan Tecchio partly sounds pleading, but still powerful. A solo part by lead guitarist Ed Fuhrman gives you a short break - before they storm off again. Hades present a version of US Metal with some thrashy parts. At Decline & Fall Of The American Empire they use a spoken word part which seems to be taken off a broadcast - and that fits very well. They change speed during the songs and so make it more interesting for the listener. Our Father is a ecclesiastical vocal piece which leads into Active Contrition, mid-paced tune with heavy riffs. On top of the heavy riffs the powerful, high voice of Alan Tecchio is dragging you into Hades. The song fades out with some church choir... but like you listen to an old tape which slowly stops. The following To Know One got me right away with its guitar work, starting slowly.... Then they add some power, but return to the basic part. A song which will haunt you, but not because it's overly catchy! Not a typical Hades tune, but very cool! The Agnostic is an instrumental interlude and leads over to Y 2 K. With the different vocal styles the tune partly make me think of Mercyful Fate, even if Tecchio is showing a larger variety - incl. some growls! And musically the song differs, is more a US metal tune... Towards the end the offer a semi-acoustic ballad with Fall. Another facet of Hades.

This Hades album is interesting for fans of US metal and power metal which like a dash of thrash in their music. But with singer Alan Tecchio they have an extraordinary singer in the band and it's simply fun to listen. They offer a blend of sounds and every song is different, but still the album is homogenous. My only complain is that the album is quite short with less then 37 minutes! Beside that... well done!
 
 










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