Bombs of Hades - The Serpent's Redemption

Bombs of Hades
The Serpent's Redemption
2012 Pulverised Records
Yep.  A new album from these "old school is the only school" Swedes.  In their short existence, Bombs of Hades has managed to become one of my favorite bands of recent years, and I can't praise them enough.  At times, I wonder what would have happened if they'd stuck with their original idea of playing crust punk, and then I start thinking that it would be cool if they brought in more of that influence to their sound, kind of like what Bones does here in the USA.  Well, I don't have to wonder any more.  On "The Serpent's Redemption," they've done that... but in a different way. Bones focuses more on the crust aspects.  Bombs of Hades go back to the origins of d-beat (yes, I mean Discharge), and do a death metal oriented version of it.  Anyone worried about this, don't be.  There is no question that this is a death metal album. Both the title track and "Skull Collector" are concrete proof of that.  This mixing of influences is what bands used to do, rather than simply copy what has gone before.  If you need an example from the past of that, I would recommend you listen closely to Metallica's "Kill 'em All."  They took elements of the NWOBHM, mainly from Holocaust, Blitzkrieg and Diamond Head, and put a new spin on them... that spin being the fledgling sound of thrash metal.  You can absolutely hear those influences, but you can't say that Metallica sounded exactly like those bands.  Bombs of Hades more or less do the same thing, by taking d-beat, pulling in some Slayer-esque parts (check the solos on "Incubus Descending") and spinning it all into death metal.  I should point out that just like with the previous album, "Chambers of Abominations," this is not a "retro-band" in any way.  This is true for two main reasons.  First, you can't be a "retro-band" if the band is comprised of members who were there for the original scene.  Second, Bombs of Hades do not try to recapture, imitate or emulate the sounds of 1989 to 1992.  The foundation may be the same as what the retro types are doing, but the music constructed upon that foundation is not.  Put simply, Bombs of Hades do not sound like some kind of recently exhumed "lost" band of two decades ago.  That is why they stand well above a lot of other bands.  They're doing their own thing and taking the classic sound forward... rather than living backwards.