Scythian Stamm

Hell:On

HELL:ON are one of the more loyal bands in Metal, when it comes to members. […]
By "Der Bärtige Mann" Gareth Beams
November 2, 2020
Hell:On - Scythian Stamm album cover

HELL:ON are one of the more loyal bands in Metal, when it comes to members. Having just the one ex-member. These guys have been together since 2005 when they were under the name HELLION. That name was changed just two years after. The back catalogue contains one demo and one full-length release under the original name. The now five other albums have come under the new name. Let's hear what this album has in store for us

"Spreading Chaos" kicks off the album by building up a nice melody, showing off a little talent before seeming to explode the album into life. As the full fury of the band meets, the pace and tempo do increase, but without losing the great melody they have built. Vocals are added in short, but frequent outbursts, this works well with the overall pace. The song is a great blend if how talents can come together, even though the vocals seem slower, more like BOLT THROWER or VADER, the pace, like the, before mentioned bands never are dull, it keeps the entertainment value up. Good start.

"The Architect's Temple" keeps the pace alive within the intro stage of the song. The melody once more is decent. The vocal insert themselves well again, they seem to have the timing down to a fine art. The pace is not as high on the levels as the previous song, its good, but not the level I thought it would have remained at. The pace seems set at a more progressive stage, it's not bad, but lacks some interest through most of the song. It does show more signs of life towards the end of the song, but dies out again, going into experimental stages.

"Ashes of the Gods" has a more, subdued melody approach to this song. The build is far slower, but could always kick into life and become an effective intro. It does not burst into energy with the insertion of the vocals, it remains at the level pace we have heard. The vocals add aggression to the song but fail to be used better. These vocals would be more effective with a Thrash-filled riff, tearing the song a new one. The song does try to get heavier and go into a new direction, but this also is ineffective. They seem to enjoy the experimental instrumental finishes.

"Under the Protection from Beyond" seems to be another slow builder, for a few seconds that is. Then a touch of pace and aggression spark the song into life. This one needs a big bang to match the intense possible start. It does not spark, barely even a flutter. The pace is set to safe, nothing really exciting, but not as dull as others could have been. The longer the song goes on, the more I think I'd have skipped it if I was just listening to it. That is never a good thing. The riffs aren't bad at all, they seem to be the only shining light at the moment, but the band fails to capitalize on this. The rest of the song needed to match the great instrumental riffs, they just didn't meet the standards.

"Movements of the Godless" goes dark with its intro, more Blackened than we have heard so far. Could this be the start of something different? Maybe? The approach seems more old school CANNIBAL CORPSE, the pace is still a little off for me. The issue here is the gaps in the melodies allow too much of the tempo to be lost. It seems like they are trying to change things around, but the vocals haven't changed from the last few songs, so the melodies are still not as effective as they could be. Instrumentally, this song is an improvement for changing this around, the timing I referred to earlier has been let down.

"The Denial of Death" has a good riff to open up, bending round with the melodies joining together. This is more like the previous song but with a bit of additional pace. The issue is still the lack of pace, there are several segments in the song where you know they could have gone further in matching the aggressive vocals and kick-ass drum beat.

"B.S.B." builds up slowly, not a shock. Could be instrumental? No, just a slow vocal starter. It is boring, the vocals are slow and the melody has no increased in tempo or shown any signs of change. When it does change it is another instrumental segment that is good, the riffs once again the only good thing about the song.

"Whispers of the Past yet to Come" needs something new to reignite interest in the album. What it gave us was watered down. nothing new, nothing to even write about. By this point in the album, you may have switched off, ignored the last few songs. I couldn't blame you. i would have done the same,

"Roaring Silence" starts off building up the melodies, could be just like the rest of the songs, could be an improvement. Let us find out. Vocals have become tiresome, not only from the band but for me to keep listening to it. There is no pace, again. The song will try to build up some pace and attempt to go into a new direction, but will fall short, like most of the album has already. To give credit to the instrumental segments, once again, they are very good and could have done so much more with the right support.

"My Testament" is the close of the album, and this is something I am glad about. It starts slow again this one. It does increase in pace and somewhat, aggression. This has been attempted throughout the album, with only the first song succeeding. The pace has been lost instantly, once again. It will probably recycle this approach and keep slowing and increasing things. It does. It again has some amazing instrumental segments, but I am repeating myself too much about these.

The first song was great, then things went south. The pace slowed down as the songs progressed through the album. Too many failed attempts at pace in this one for me. It will be a "What If?" album.

6 / 10

Had Potential

Songwriting

6

Musicianship

6

Memorability

6

Production

6
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"Scythian Stamm" Track-listing:

1. Spreading Chaos
2. The Architect's Temple
3. Ashes of the Gods
4. Under the Protection from Beyond
5. Movements of the Godless
6. The Denial of Death
7. B.S.B.
8. Whispers of the Past yet to Come
9. Roaring Silence
10. My Testament

Hell:On Lineup:

Olexandr Bayev - Lead Vocals
Anton Vorozhtsov - Guitars
Olexandr Sitalo aka Slayer - Bass Guitar
Olexiy Pasko aka Hellion - Guitars
Oleg Talanov aka Leshiy - Drums

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