Album Review: The Hellacopters - "Eyes Of Oblivion"

 

The prospect of the Hellacopters coming back after a hiatus of over a decade was something that had rock fans of a certain vintage very excited when it was announced in the dying days of last year. As you'll know if you read the Sounds From The Junkshop column we did on the band last year, this is a group who provided a much needed raw, stripped back and nasty take on garage rock in the early years of the millennium as opposed to the polished corporate version of the Strokes et al. However, the harsh truth is that those golden years are over two decades ago now which is pretty much an eternity in rock music. Eyes of Oblivion, the group's comeback album, has a lot to live up to - can it manage it?

You'll be pleased to know that it only takes until the opening barrage of lead off single Reap A Hurricane to realise that the answer is yes. Barrelling through like a force ten tornado, this is everything you needed to reassure you that the Hellacopters have most definitely still got it. The frenetic Can It Wait? follows up in fine style before the slinky blues strut of So Sorry I Could Die proves an unexpected change-up with an almost Motown ballad style feel to it which works way better than it really has any right to. The title track quickly picks the pace right back up with a frenetic intro riff from a returning Dregen with the track speeding through satisfying quickly with a big chantalong chorus to embed itself in your brain. There's a definite Thin Lizzy influence on this album with A Plow And A Doctor probably being the most obvious evidence yet with its muscular guitar crunch and lurking menace to it.

Positively Not Knowing cranks the urgency up another notch with Dregen and Nick's snaking guitars and the pummelling drums sounding like Dr Feelgood at their most pepped up before Tin Foil Soldier is another unexpected turn, rolling in on a Slade style '70s glam stomp - again, maybe not what you'd expect from the Hellacopters but it most definitely works. Beguiled is definitely a throwback to the classic '90s Hellacopters sound, tight and wiry garage rock just the way it should be before the laid back acoustics of The Pressure's On (which has a bit of a hint of Eyes Of Alice era Alice Cooper about it) and the wiry Lynott style rocker Try Me Tonight to guide this one home in style.

It would have been very easy for the Hellacopters to just phone an album like this in but I'm pleased to report that Eyes Of Oblivion is anything but a "will this do?" effort - it crackles with energy and tight musicianship packing choruses and hooks that'll keep you coming back for repeat listening as well as throwing in a few unexpected turns off the expected route without losing sight of the group's strengths. Definitely one of the best albums I've heard in 2022 so far and I really can't recommend it enough. 

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 (9/10)