ALBUM REVIEW: Hell Is Here, Hell Is Home – Bodysnatcher
If you were present last month at any of the dates on BODYSNATCHER‘s recent UK tour, you’ll know just what a talent the deathcore scene has on its hands right now. The quartet are determined to be the torchbearers for the genre for the next decade or two and their adoption of a ‘take no prisoners’ policy in their efforts to achieve their goals has, so far, worked out pretty damn well. Fresh off those live shows comes Hell Is Here, Hell Is Home, the band’s fourth album released on April 10th via MNRK Heavy.
Although not a concept album, Hell Is Here, Hell Is Home is themed around standing up for one’s self, not going out of your way for people who want to take advantage of you and, if needs be, revenge. “Are you scared?” vocalist Kyle Medina asks three times in opening track The Maker, each adding a layer of intensity, before screaming “You fucking should be!” in defiance to critics as the breakdown thunders in. The song builds beautifully to that moment as well, the band making use of short gaps of silence to help bring the tension up just that little bit more. There’s plenty of other stand out lines as BODYSNATCHER stick a finger up to their naysayers: “This world gives you nothing; give it nothing back!” yells Medina in the closing title track, while Two Empty Caskets contains the menacing “My work is done; they will never find your bones.” But the most powerful comes from May Your Memory Rot, a deeply personal track aimed as a large middle finger towards drummer Chris Whited‘s dad, “So as your gift, choke on this truth: Happy Father’s Day Mike, FUCK YOU!” screams Medina, summoning every ounce of vitriol he can.
Musically, BODYSNATCHER aren’t reinventing the deathcore wheel, but why do they need to when their current fare is so potent? Whether they’re delivering massive breakdowns like on Blade Between The Teeth or inciting two-steppers with the groove in tracks such as Writhe And Coil and Violent Obsession, they’ve crafted ten tracks of brutal brilliance that are lean and muscular. There’s a little curveball here and there, like the cleaner guitar tone in Plague Of Flies that runs underneath the riffs and the carnage in the first half of the song, or a lesser-spotted guitar solo making an appearance in No Savior, but for the most part it’s out-and-out bedlam of the highest order. The appearance of TERROR frontman Scott Vogel on the blistering Survive Or Die needs a mention too, the hardcore legend delivering a furious performance that gives the track an extra dimension.
BODYSNATCHER have not shied away from how hard this album was for them to create, but when all is said and done they’ve produced a monster of a record. Hard-hitting, and with the ability to strike a chord with all that find themselves frustrated at the current darkness surrounding them, Hell Is Here, Hell Is Home will be a cathartic release to so many. Perhaps its best summed up by the sample at the beginning of the whole thing, taken from the 2011 film Melancholia: “The Earth is evil’ we don’t need to grieve for it. Nobody will miss it.”
Rating: 8/10
Hell Is Here, Hell Is Home is out now via MNRK Heavy.
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