Hell In The Club - Devil On My Shoulder

If your Tardis is in the shop and you're itching to check out some late 80s party metal, Hell In The Club is the ticket.It's not often that I read a band's description that says "they mix classic hard rock and modern sounds, heavy metal and party songs, fifties rock n’ roll and anything in between", so I was justifiably intrigued to hear about Italy's Hell In The Club.

And that's not even all that makes this album/band different, being composed entirely of members of other bands (Death SS, Elvenking & Secret Sphere) decidedly not in Hell In The Club's genre of classic hard rock/pop metal of the 80s and 90s like Guns N' Roses, Poison, et al. And I'm happy to say that the result is more than just a gimmick. These cats actually do the concept justice, sounding like a band you'd hear on stage at the Whiskey some weekend circa 1989.

Fans of the aforementioned era should be grooving at the raspy crooning of Davide "Dave" Moras and the crunchy rhythyms of Andrea "Picco" Piccardi's axe on such bar-worthy tunes as Bare Hands, Beware of the Candyman and Save Me. But it wouldn't be the whole package without the anthemic We Are The Ones for sweaty, fist-pumping moments and the obligatory ballad, Muse. This is a great representation of a certain sound fondly remembered by many an elder rocker.

The Bottom Line: If you miss the yesterdays of weekend partying that included a stop at your favorite local, smoke-filled, live music bar for some late night rocking, Hell In The Club's sophomore release Devil On My Shoulder will scratch that itch, guaranteed.

- Genghis does in fact miss those days...