Hell Valley High Premiere Welcome to Hell Valley in Full; Album Out Friday
Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on October 16th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Utrecht heavy rock five-piece Hell Valley High make their full-length debut this week with Welcome to Hell Valley, out Friday on Argonauta Records. The title, of course, refers the Kyuss ultra-classic Welcome to Sky Valley, but much to the band’s credit, they’re not necessarily limited to the desert when it comes to stylistic biomes. Riffing is the foundation, to be sure, but the urgency brought to the chorus of “To Each His Own” and the patterning of frontman Mark Mulders around the stop-prone guitar in side B leadoff “Blameless” feels born out of Lo-Pan‘s soulful playbook, at least in the verse. In addition to this, “Easy Rider” takes on broader expanses with an eight-minute runtime and engrossing build at the end of the album’s first half, and opener “Clean Slate” clues the listener contingent that already got the reference that as regards amenities, Hell Valley High — the lineup of Mulders, guitarists Eelco Klein Overmeen and Damir Čiček, bassist Niels Turk and drummer Wouter Dielesen – have to do than ape genre forebears.
And from “Clean Slate” onward, they don’t waste time getting to it. Second song “To Each His Own” has a standout chorus and a subtle flourish of lead guitar there that reminds of Bad Religion, and pairing the rush of “Future Nomads” — a fleet-footed highlight — with “Easy Rider” gives Welcome to Hell Valley‘s A side a more encompassing spirit while leaving side B, which rounds out cohesively with “The Grind” underscoring the crux of the 37-minute offering’s unpretentious rock mindset, room enough to throw a curve
like the cover of “Send Me a Postcard,” the 1968 single by Dutch proto-heavy outfit Shocking Blue, which 56 years after its release fits pretty well alongside the catchy fare Hell Valley High have on offer, and the band get bonus points for keeping the line, “I wanna be your woman,” in the chorus. They back the cover with “One O One,” answering some of the two-guitar hard punk of “To Each His Own,” effective in the semi-redirect from ’60s-style to something more current — which of course was born 30 years ago; time is an illusion — in no small part because of Hell Valley High‘s songwriting, which is a strength throughout.
There’s little to hold them back as they celebrate the release this weekend as part of the stunning lineup for Desertfest Belgium 2024 — there are other Fall shows listed below — and the songs promise a charge from the stage in their studio versions; just hit up “Future Nomads” if you don’t believe it. Self-awareness is obviously a factor here, as the band know where they’re coming from or they wouldn’t have basically named their debut after someone else’s record, but if their intention in doing so is to put a spin of their own on what’s been done before, Welcome to Hell Valley succeeds in this and asks little of the listener in doing so. Indulgences are few if any, and the vitality of the material holds, bringing a playful sensibility to the cover and setting forth on the process of sculpting their take with these songs. I won’t predict where the future might take their sound, but if they want to expand on their accomplishments here, there are a swath of aesthetic avenues they might traverse through a longer-term progression. Or, more straightforwardly, there’s potential in what they’re doing.
Likely some of that is born out of the band members’ past experiences — the pedigree is listed in the PR wire info that follows in blue below; I don’t need to cut and paste — but the chemistry here, the meld of ideas that seem to be from different sources, and the clarity of structures and purposes serve them well, whatever reaches they may want to explore over time.
Welcome to Hell Valley streams on the player below. Please enjoy:
Hell Valley High, Welcome to Hell Valley album premiere
The pre-order with T-shirt/LP bundles is available at the band’s official webstore: https://hellvalleyhigh.nl/
The Netherlands-based, groove-driven heavy rock band HELL VALLEY HIGH is set to release its highly anticipated debut album, Welcome to Hell Valley, on October 18th, 2024, via Argonauta Records, on vinyl and digital formats.
“We are very excited to release our debut full-length Welcome To Hell Valley through Argonauta Records on October 18th. We’ve been working really hard on this album for the past year and we’re extremely proud of the final result. The album was recorded over two sessions at Big Dog Recordings, just outside of Antwerp, Belgium. All music was recorded live to capture Hell Valley High’s true energy. The title is a nod to the legendary 1994 Kyuss album. At the same time – like the band’s name – the title is an ode to our favorite movie Back To The Future.
Welcome To Hell Valley includes the groovy song Blameless and fiery rocker Future Nomads, that were both released earlier this year. It also features our latest single Clean Slate and the multifaceted Easy Rider, with its epic crescendo. The album even contains a cover of a song that was originally released in 1970 by a world famous Dutch band. Because every classic debut album needs a Shocking Blue cover, don’t you think?” – band comments on the album.
Album tracklisting:
1. Clean Slate
2. To Each His Own
3. Future Nomads
4. Easy Rider
5. Blameless
6. Send Me A Postcard
7. One O One
8. The Grind
HELL VALLEY HIGH live dates:
🇧🇪 18-10-24 Desertfest, Antwerp w/ Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu, Russian Circles & more
🇳🇱 25-10-24 Muziekgieterij, Maastricht w/ Fu Manchu
🇳🇱 15-11-24 Patronaat, Haarlem w/ Slower
🇳🇱 29-03-25 Interstaller Solar Fest, Leiden w/ Mars Red Sky, Iron Jinn & more
Line-up
Mark Mulders – vocals
Eelco Klein Overmeen – guitars
Damir Čiček – guitars
Niels Turk – bass
Wouter Dielesen – drums
