Hellride
Goodbyes to Forever

Perhaps it has been a hellride for the band Hellride who are saying goodbye as they are taking a hiatus or releasing their last album with this one called Goodbyes to Forever – the press material isn’t clear as in one paragraph it is hiatus for the moment and in another they are leaving the music business. Whatever it is they have two albums with this one, the first was released in 2013. Hellride is something so strange as an acoustic metal band, that is what the genre on the press sheet says. At first glance that sounds like an oxymoron as metal is about distorted electric guitars and that sort of thing – but is it really?

This is rather metallic with just two acoustic guitars and a singer, pretty powerful and if you just casually listen it is easy to think that it like any other metal. I think they offer a pretty wide variety over the album as well with a Rod Steward cover, some ballads, even some self-depreciating irony and other things. Pretty good depth and as the playing time is short it is an album that isn’t trying your patience and that is always a positive aspect. The sound is pretty good too, so a good production, but not outstanding and I think that solid production is probably the way to describe it – they do what they do pretty well in many regards.

Kudos to them for going their own way looking to make metal in their own way, that isn’t done by many, most just copy what others have done before. But as much as I want to like this album, I have to say that it doesn’t do much for me, the songs aren’t very exciting, and the overall feel is indifferent rather than anything else. This acoustic metal should open up more possibilities, there are some good ideas, but they don’t really follow them to conclusion, and I end up feeling that the negatives kind of outweigh the positives slightly. But I still think this is far mor interesting than many of those middle of the road albums I write about, all those albums without a soul that are good craftsmanship and too good to dislike but still as lifegiving as covid19 or the flu. This is more interesting but not better, so they may be worse but at least more fun to reason around in order to formulate a review.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any distinctive or standout tracks on this album, there are some decent one and some that are pretty poor. The acoustic style is a plus but not enough and in the end I find myself wishing that they had succeeded better so that I could rate Hellride higher than the general greyness that I are reviewing or sifting through when downloading promos or sorting through the physical ones. It should be rewarding to think and to dare to be different, but unfortunately for Hellride it is also important to be good and I don’t think that they are that good.

HHHHHHH