Beyond the Boundaries of Sin

Hellwell is a side project from Manilla Road’s inimitable Mark Shelton, who’s pretty much the king of underground metal. Joining him is keyboardist/bassist E.C. Hellwell, who some of you might recognise from recent Manilla Road albums, the guy is like a creepy horror/HP Lovecraft aficionado and he contributed the “Acheronomicon” story contained in Beyond The Boundaries Of Sin. Rounding out the line-up is stick-smasher Johnny “Thumper” Benson whose nickname comes off well earned across the album.

The music contained on here shouldn’t come across as out of the ordinary to anyone versed in the way of the road, although for the uninitiated I’m sure Hellwell will, without doubt, come across odd. Shelton’s vocals are as always marmite, and this time around adorned with a darker twang which strangely reminds me of Snowy Shaw. His guitar work however, is certainly one of Hellwell’s finer selling points. The riffs across the board are fucking explosive, hitting like a shotgun particularly in the killer “Acheronomicon I. Tomb of the Unnamed One”. E.C. Hellwell’s keyboards help give the music a pulpy horror feel, and succeeds pretty well with a blend of organ, Hammond and general seventies prog approaches; imagine a possessed Rick Wakeman, or Jon Lord as the Phantom Of The Opera. Johnny Bensens drums are propulsive throughout and really tight with the guitars, with the rhythm section on the whole here being particularly well done.

When everything comes together it’s seriously enjoyable, and makes track such as “Eaters Of The Dead” or the aforementioned “Acheronomicon I. Tomb of the Unnamed One” such fun affairs. At other times the material can verge ever-so-slightly on dull, particularly in “Keepers of the Devils Inn” which serves up a few musical sections which fail to generate anything in the way of excitement. Luckily these instances aren’t too prominent and for the most part I was banging my head and fists alike. I will reiterate on Mark Shelton’s vocals, which of course are an acquired taste, but seriously if you’re interested in this album try a few songs out first as the guy can be a serious deal breaker.

For the most part Hellwell have unleashed a solid debut album with some exceptionally cool songs, and whilst I feel the production is a little weak it luckily doesn't detract too much. I can’t say this one is going to boast a wide appeal as these guys are playing a really specialist style of music. However if you’re a big fan of Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol, and Brocas Helm then Hellwell are going to be right up your alley. Well worth a look!

Originally written for http://www.metal-observer.com

Manilla Road's 2011 full-length Playground of the Damned was a bit underwhelming, at least by Mark Shelton's absurdly high standards (Voyager, I'm looking at you), so I was hoping for a step back up with the debut release from Shelton's hot new side project, Hellwell. The album cover, song titles, and song lengths all suggested to me something darker, doomier, and more "epic" - that is to say, more drenched in fantastical themes, more grandiose, and perhaps a bit slower - especially with the obvious mini-concept album tacked on at the end. These inferences all turned out to be correct, although I also concluded that, such being the case, the album would certainly be a significant step up from Playground. This, unfortunately, just was not the case.

The Hellwell project definitely sounds cooler than Playground on paper - a throwback to the olden days of MR and a cryptic, horrific bent a la Lovecraft, not to mention some keys thrown in on the side - and sometimes, that description really is justified. "Keepers of the Devils Inn" and "The Heart of Ahriman", for example, are easily as good as anything on Playground, and probably better than any of it except maybe "Abattoir de la Mort". The problem with Beyond the Boundaries of Sin, though, is that it's pretty inconsistent. It tends to have a pretty disjointed feel if listened to from beginning to end, which shouldn't be surprising considering it's more or less three separate entities. First, you have "The Strange Case of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes", "Eaters of the Dead", and "Keepers of the Devils Inn", which are all standalone songs, assumedly written strictly for this album; there's a strong keyboard presence on each, but they're not excessively dark, sounding not very far removed from MR's The Courts of Chaos days. Next, there's "Deadly Nightshade", which was culled from the Playground recordings and is pretty different from the rest of the album; it's fast, aggressive, and thrashy whereas the rest of the album is slower, atmospheric, and doomy. Unfortunately, it's not a very good song, either - the album could really do without it.

Finally, there's the "Acheronomicon" trilogy, based on bassist/keyboardist/band namesake Ernie Hellwell's original short story. Thankfully, these three songs flow pretty well, and they're definitely darker and harsher than the rest of the album, building up throughout the duration of the trilogy as if one is descending into the depths of a great, unknown abyss. Certainly very Lovecraftian in nature - there references to both the man himself and other mythologies, such as that of ancient Egypt, and I must say the lyrics complement the music quite well, so kudos to Hellwell and Shelton on that.

That being said, there are definitely some problems here, even apart from "Deadly Nightshade". The first three songs in particular have a tendency to get too complex and/or technical; along with some very strange, convoluted riffs, the keyboard melodies aren't always particularly simple, and it makes for a sound that's pretty complex without being really enjoyable; normally, Shelton is good at weaving melodies together with ease, and in some places that's true here; but in others, such as the first half of "Eaters of the Dead", or certain parts of "Keepers of the Devils Inn", it feels fairly forced, as though it's complex merely for complexity's sake. It seems to me that Shelton was almost too ambitious here; perhaps if he had dialed back the grandiosity a notch, it would have worked better. Still, despite some major flaws, all the songs except for "Deadly Nightshade" manage to be pretty enjoyable - the chorus of "Keepers" and the bridge in "Eaters" in particular are excellent.

The vocals are, thankfully, still quite good for the most part, although they can't really compare to Shelton in his prime in the 80s. Shelton sounds as wheezy and aged as he did on the last couple of albums, but it still works pretty damn well, sounding like some ancient malicious behemoth from ancient lore. MR bandmate Bryan "Hellroadie" Patrick sings on two songs - "Deadly Nightshade" and "The Heart of Ahriman", and although he can't compare to Shelton as far as pure character, he definitely does a more than adequate job. "The Heart of Ahriman" in particular is fantastic, although Hellroadie isn't solely to thank for that. Whereas the complexity sometimes led to problems earlier in the album, it's synchronized perfectly here, and once you get into it it's absurdly enjoyable, masterful, and catchy. It is one of the more difficult songs to get into from the album, though.

"Tomb of the Unnamed One" is almost as good as "Heart", evoking The Courts of Chaos quite strongly with its dark, mellow atmosphere, bringing to mind "A Touch of Madness" in particular. This is easily better than "A Touch of Madness" though, conjuring up a very occult, forbidden feel, which tends to remind me of The Black Wind from The Ways in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Definitely one of the better songs here. Lastly, there's "End of Days", which one might expect to be the shining moment of the album, but unfortunately it isn't. There are definitely some enjoyable passages, but at thirteen and a half minutes, it's just not catchy enough to hold my attention. The intro and outro alone comprise over two minutes, and the rest of the song seems to try too hard to be overly ambitious. I feel like this song would be excellent at about seven or eight minutes, but as it stands it's merely good. This is pretty representative of the album as a whole, which seems a bit overly ambitious, and thus rather than achieving the excellence Shelton is so revered for, is merely good. Still, good is good, and MR's high standards aside, it's a very worthwhile album, and one I would recommend to any fan of MR, Lovecraft, or heavy/doom metal in general.

While I wouldn't count myself among the hugest of Manilla Road proponents in the universe, there was definitely a stretch there from about 1983-1990 where I found the band was writing some of the most compelling underground metal in the Midwest. Mark Shelton and his associates were never afraid to break boundaries, traipse across specific sub-genres, explore and flesh out themes fantastic, mythic, Mythos, or historical in the contexts of traditional, power, heavy, doom and thrash metal. There was nothing inherently cheap, shallow, or predictable of that outfit: when I first pursued a Manilla Road record, I had almost no idea of exactly what awaited me under its eaves. It was an adventure, and there were just not many bands you could say the same for...that said, I've had a mixed reaction to much of the Kansas group's 21st century material.

The Hellwell debut might very well have been released under that moniker and not surprised anyone, due to the eclectic niche-bending Shelton so defined through the 80s, but there are a few quirks and differences to set it apart. For one, there are a lot of gutturals spread among his unnerving, deep, nasally clean vocal range. The riffing patterns often exhibit a tendency towards the dark thrash epoch of Manilla Road, but balanced against the heavier, progressive grooves of the guitars, it seems pretty unusual. Also, the prominent use of organs give this a very psychedelic, progressive feel redolent of 60s and 70s influences, thanks to fellow composer E.C. Hellwell, whose handle provided a name for this outlet (and who was also on the latest Manilla record). Not necessarily something entirely new to Shelton's past albums, but here it feels specifically retro. A death/doom metal Doors or Deep Purple? Why not. Another distinction of Beyond the Boundaries of Sin is how the raw production and the constant collision of busied riffs and leads give this the impression of an almost improvisational power trio; perhaps there's too much structure for a 'jam' band, but no effort was spared in flooding the listener's senses.

Most importantly, though, these often disparate elements are concocted into a genuinely creepy experience that reeks of classic horror concepts, both Gothic and otherworldly. Where the barrage of demented heavy doom licks transcend into these hugely atmospheric twines of Shelton's soaring premonitions and backing organs, like in the bridge of "Deadly Nightshade", you certainly can feel the walls of sanity torn asunder, and the age old chills of Poe, Lovecraft or Arthur Machen beginning to leak into the contemporary world. The leaden rhythm guitars riffs are crunchy as hell, the leads are constantly cavorting through the upper range of the album in fired bursts of controlled chaos, and though melody is not lost upon Hellwell, its really the sense of swirling bombast that carries the trio through its manifold rhythmic diatribes. As archaic as it might often sound, Beyond the Boundaries of Sin isn't something that was fully conceived in a single afternoon, it's not resting entirely on its Manilla Road laurels; it's the shaky first cobblestone on a fascinating new path for this trio.

Still, I wasn't always sold on the music here, if only because a lot of the rhythm guitar riffs and leads seemed forgettable despite their good intentions. If separated from the keys, vocals and drums, I doubt I'd find them all that interesting, and my ears always sought something to stick onto. The solos are solid exercises that help lend the music a frenetic, reflexive tension, but in of themselves they lack emotional resonance beyond the mere climb and descent of scales. I found that most of my favorite moments were the most grandiose, like the epic, psychedelic escalation of "Acheronomicon III: End of Days" through the burn of synthesizers to the sweeping, bright atmospherics of the crushing chords and organs; or the aforementioned "Deadly Nightshade". While I often enjoy the primal production of certain extreme metal for its own sake, here I actually wouldn't have minded another layer or two of finish to really flesh out the instruments. Imperfections aside, though, Beyond the Boundaries of Sin is an interesting mutation on the established Manilla Road aesthetic. If you like one, the other is a safe bet. Inspired, intelligent, demented, lyrically curious, and I hope not the last we'll hear of the project.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com