Review: Miracle Blood ‘Hello Hell’
Boston’s Miracle Blood formed in 2014 and comprises guitarist/vocalist Andrew Wong, bassist Garrett Young and drummer Anthony Bollitier. The band have toured with the likes of the mighty Great Falls (of the Neurot Recordings stable), Landower and Tree.
Prior to Hello Hell the trio put out a number of releases commencing with 2017’s Cannibals EP, 2019’s standalone singles Roses/Nurses, Swollen/Sentinel and Bloom/Polite And Calm, 2020’s This Message Contains No Content EP and finally the 2022 Melter debut full-length.
The band’s latest was produced by Alex Allinson (BEDTIMEMAGIC, The Freqs), with mastering engineering coming from Brad Boatright (The Armed, Sleep, Nails). Furthermore, the promotional notes promise that Hello Hell will ‘slam the listener with ten ripping tracks in under thirty-two minutes, with a sound that is meaner, heavier, and noisier than its predecessor’. A bold claim and as such I look forward to seeing whether the record matches up.
The first thing that strikes you about Oh My Lord! is the startling vocal comparisons to Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedys, delivered in a sermon style so often associated with the legendary frontman. Done to a ‘90s hardcore metal musical backing akin to New York heavyweights Helmet and Unsane and you have all the hallmarks of the perfect album opener.
Phenomenon has choruses that echo LL Cool J’s 1997 bragging classic of the same name (intentional, or not?), accompanied by Drive By Jehu’s pioneering math-rock, superb. Pets And Owners incorporates the kind of Jesus Lizard style noise-rock that would give David Yow and the boys a run for their money and though I haven’t listened to Converge in an age, Lobotomizer nonetheless recalls the brute metalcore of Petitioning The Empty Sky. Additionally, the vocals have a theatricality to them akin to that of Messiah Marcolin on Candlemass tracks such as Bewitched. An odd combination but one that works exceptionally well.
a ripping album…
Ghosts Marching Slow definitely sounds like the band have been avidly listening to Slayer’s South Of Heaven and Seasons In The Abyss, what with the doomier mid-tempo grooves which the thrash titans had been developing around that time. Hello Hell on the other hand is a little more orientated towards sludgy noiseniks Karp and a track that would have no trouble finding its way onto Mustaches Wild, the Tumwater trio’s sloppy yet charming debut.
Rather Be Nothing is absolutely vicious, reminiscent of tracks such as Wasting Away by Nailbomb or Sepultura whenever they delved into hardcore punk. I’m Not Complaining with its darker gothic post-punk hues, nods its head to T.S.O.L’s Dance With Me and it makes me exceptionally happy that a band who easily rank alongside Siouxsie And The Banshees as one of that genre’s most creative pioneers, are finally getting some acknowledgement, albeit indirectly. Speaking of the Banshees, John McKay’s ‘metal-shard roar’ (to quote Trouser Press’ Ira Robbins’) makes an appearance to forge in totality an absolute standout and personal favourite of yours truly.
The Jesus Lizard loom large once again on First You’ll Laugh… what with some of the uneasy discordance on display, as well as Faith No More’s more schizophrenic moments on tracks such as Cuckoo For Caca and Ugly In The Morning. Prepare For Breakfast taps into Every Time I Die’s final record Radical, what with its eccentric mix of stoner(ish) rock, post-hardcore and metalcore affording for a highly effective conclusion to the album.
The aforementioned promotional material from Earsplit has been proven right after all, this is a ripping album but also an engaging one too, what with the subtle experimental touches slipped in along the way.
Label: Nefarious Industries
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Reza Mills
