Heritage

Hellraiser

This is the second full-length album from the guys of HELLRAISER, a band based in […]
By Jean-François ''Jackal'' Poulin
June 29, 2019

This is the second full-length album from the guys of HELLRAISER, a band based in Citta di Castello in Italy. Their first release was ''Revenge of the Phoenix'' in 2014 but the band has been at it since 2000. The number of releases during that time is a bit of a mystery, I would have thought in almost 20 years of being a band, there would be more releases but I digress.

The cover art is pretty sweet, it reminded me a bit of the album cover of ''Accelerated Evolution'' by THE DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND back in 2003. But it's my opinion, I felt the symbolism was very similar at best.

Musically, I would say they are a mix of old school Heavy Metal mixed with the earlier SYMPHONY X albums. You have so neo-classical elements thrown in for good measure so that's why I use the SYMPHONY X band as an example. The guitar work is pretty good, you got some wicked guitar solos throughout the album and it's by far one of the best things off this release.

Nonetheless, I felt the production could have been better, the singer kind of steals the spotlight in a sense. His voice is way too present and it drowns out the rest of the band. The adjustment of the ratio between his mic and the rest of the band should have been done beforehand and it hurts the overall quality of the album. The drums are a bit wonky at best, the sound felt a bit lost in the shuffle. It's not precise and I felt the programming should have done a better jet setting the right Drum sound for the band. Maybe it's because they are a small band and they don't have that big budget but some bands have done better with less, just saying.

Now the tricky part, I love a singer with some great range, power and emotion, it adds so much to a band. Cesare Capaccioni has all those elements rolled into one...but one thing, the guy butchers the lyrics and the English language in all its glory. His pronunciation is horrendous and you can barely make up what he is singing. It's atrocious and it really got on my nerves and 52 minutes was way too much for any human being to endure. The guy has a great voice, but should stick to his native language because it really hurts the quality of the songs because you got some great riffs.

Underwhelming at best.

5 / 10

Mediocre

Songwriting

6

Musicianship

6

Memorability

5

Production

5
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"Heritage" Track-listing:

1. Heritage
2. Plagues of the North
3. Ritual of the Stars
4. Fairy Veil
5. Mother Holle
6. Preludio
7. Delvcaem
8. Balance of the Universe
9. Voice in the Wind
10. Zephyr's Palace
11. Lady in White

Hellraiser Lineup:

Cesare Capaccioni - Vocals
Marco Tanzi - Guitars
Rick Perugini - Drums
Michele Brozzi - Guitars
Francesco Foti - Bass

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