Despite their name, these four Poles aren't doing any soccer anthems. Hell no, their craft is a mixture of black and death metal. They released one album and a bunch of other stuff under the moniker Eclypse, which was just as bad a name for them as Hell United, eh? 'Aura Damage' is their second full length platter under the new name, among a demo and two EPs.

Well, as they say, a good name is like sweet smelling ointment. Here it smells like death and brimstone, no matter how non-evil the name of the band is. Pretty fucking non-evil. Okay, we are over the name issue now, OK?! Well, almost. The album's title as well as the song titles are rather interesting, and do promise some brutal 'n' evil earfucking. Hell, when 'Red Limitations' start to play, it is just what was promised!

The album begins with high-speed and bestial attack. The blasting is intense, but not unvarying. Ripping riffing equals to the brutal drumming, as do the harsh death metal vocals mixed with black metal aesthetics, that sound truly unfriendly to throat. As the album goes on, The guitars also feature a lot of open-stringed diabolic playing, tremolo riffing and raw, rusty sound with feedback, shrieks and other tasty elements. The solos that aren't a commodity, are rather insane or then catchy. The bass guitar feels the most plain thing on the album, even though it does what it needs to do.

It's not all full-on rapidity, as the band knows how to slow up at times, for a short period, or even for a longer stint ('Deathlike Cold' is half fast, half slow). During the slower moments, it gets rather sludgy, but not sludge. Generally, some of the song material is quite forgettable, but surely there is some very classy stuff included, too. But when experienced with the booklet (with some great drawings of skulls and horny demon of death) and lyrics, it gets much more unitary and contiguous. The lyrical themes are anti-religious and anti-human, with some good ideas and scribblings and nothing too typical stuff.

The playing is kept intriguing with all kinds of nuances, which happen because the unpolished production allows them to happen. The production is dirty and not well balanced, which makes it arduous to listen to, and unveil everything about the string instruments. To get most out of 'Aura Damage', it should be listened to with headphones. And it's not without rewards, either. It just takes time, that's for sure. But you won't get ready chewed meal here, but many raw and atypical recipes utilized. The band's enthusiasm and force are clearly evident, and a listener cannot avoid their energizing contiguity.

'Aura Damage' sounds like Immolation mixed with newer works by Norwegians Gehenna and late Bloody Sign. Still, one can sense that Hell United's black soul is Polish, and nothing else. With this sophomore album, Hell United's work is in good shape, but I still hope for some more depth and hooks which would truly wallop me while listening to them. And more evilness, too (and here you can imagine a fucking blinking eye smiley).

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
05/14/2013 20:13