Grabbing into your back catalogue while writing and playing music is hardly anything new. That has been done through the ages and is still solmething a lot of bands do. Some do it good, others are rubbish at it. Well, I can tell you that the German band WALLOP does it as well, and even tries to replicate the sound of a certain band when possible. I will explain later, when I delve deeper into the arteries of their latest album “Hell On Wheels”. WALLOP is actually having it's second life. They first were around from 1983 until 1987. During that time they produced their debut album “Metallic Alps”. After a hiatus of 31 years, WALLOP was reformed in 2018. This time the first album was named “Alps On Fire” and released in 2020. Now, another four years later, it is time for the guys from Offenbach to give us “Hell On Wheels”.

Let's start with the most important part, which is what kind of music WALLOP play. It is pure and unadulterated Heavy Metal. Nothing more, nothing less. And they make sure that from the first moment on you will be recognise the songs as such, as they are all quite straight forward and without any unnecessary thrills and fills. And what I said about the sound, just look at the video of “American 4-4-0” that is accompanying this review, and tell me the guitars don't sound like every early SAVATAGE. Another good one is “Hellfire”. The sound on that one could only be described as “Ride The Lightning” era METALLICA. I have to admit, they are the most obvious ones, but if you listen carefully, you will encounter more of these occurrences.

As for the music itself, it grows on you. The songs on “Hell On Wheels” might seem super simple and harmless at first, but once you listen a few more times, the outer layers give space to the contents underneath. Especially the enthusiasm and dedication that is obviously radiating very distinctively into your ears will have you put a smile on your face. That is the moment when you will find you are listening to quite good songs. WALLOP hasn't reinvented the wheel, hell, they haven't even tried to, but they have given you over 39 minutes of a good time. What you hear is not brilliant, but definitely rather good and entertaining. In that respect WALLOP has done very well, making “Hell On Wheels” a very pleasant album. Nothing more, nothing less.