Wicked Is My Game

I don't know if it's a shame, but I don't own any albums of this band. Why is that ? Because there are too many bands such as this one out there, and from what I have heard by them so far, there was nothing that encouraged me to buy one of their two previous albums Holy Target and Not Dead Yet. When you are a reviewer for a great (!!!) metal site such as Metal Reviews, you often get free promo stuff from records companies. Of course not each of us gets free promos from all the bands out there, but when we do manage to get some promos, we then decide who will get this one or that one. I am the lucky one who got the advanced promo CD from Raise Hell's third full length (can I still use that word since nobody buys vinyl anymore ? At least no-one that I know). Anyway, Raise Hell is about a gathering of young Swedish post teenagers who wanted to play some cool old fashioned retro thrash metal. I am glad for them, but who cares about speed thrash metal anymore (well, I should stop being so sarcastic). First of all, maybe it’s just my weird opinion, but the guy behind the microphone (good one, I’ll keep it coz’ I like it) reminds me a lot of early Mille Petrozza from Kreator. The music is very very much like early Kreator, Sodom and Destruction. Track 2, Nightwatcher, is the perfect illustration of what I'm trying to say. I admit I still listen to earlier works such as Terrible Certainty, Extreme Aggression and Coma Of Souls from Kreator or Persecution Mania and Agent Orange from Sodom and I really like them because I grew up with them, but I certainly couldn’t compare Raise Hell to the originals who helped pioneer this genre of metal. I am not saying Raise Hell stuff sucks, I wouldn’t go to that extreme, but their music is really out of date. This new album spans every cliché of old fashioned thrash metal, and I can’t help but smile. I read somewhere about someone asking how Motley Crue would sound if they played melodic death metal and the guy came to the conclusion that Raise Hell had felt the need to answer this question. I agree 100 % with this guy, except for the fact that he found their music excellent. I, on the other hand, find it just plain boring. I am sorry for all those who will find this review a bit weird or whatever, but I couldn’t help but smile and laugh while listening to this record. It’s definitely not my taste, but you probably have figured that out for yourself. Anyway, this is another record I will not buy and I will also not check out their previous stuff. Of course, I don’t ask you to follow my recommendations by any means, who am I anyway? Check it out, even if just for fun… and give me your feedback.