Allhelluja
Breath your Soul

Third studio effort for Allhelluja, fresh from a line-up change after the departure of half its members, guitarist Massimo Gajer and singer Jacob Bredahl (ex-Hatesphere). If the debut "Inferno Museum," although listenable, ended up being neither good nor bad and will probably be remembered mainly for its cover, the follow-up "Pain Is The Game" already showed good signs of improvement, with a shift towards a much rawer and more aggressive sound; a kind of "dirty" stoner-rock, also bolstered by a great performance by the singer halfway between scream and growl. A bastard cross between Entombed, Kyuss, Down, Black Sabbath, and Corrosion of Conformity, the album grabbed you from the first listen, thanks to a damn groovy and monolithic sound, being violent, simple, and direct like a shovel to the face; however, the CD partially lost steam in the long run due to a not very varied sound, risking becoming too homogeneous and long-winded.

With this latest work, they manage not only to handle the line-up change without trauma (becoming, among other things, a completely Italian entity), with Tommy Massara (Extrema) as the new axeman and GL Perotti (Extrema) and Trevor (Sadist) on vocals, who do not make you miss the former singer, giving their two timbres a considerable vocal range to the band; but also to enrich their sound with new facets, giving it greater variety and richness. To the aforementioned influences, one can add the Ministry ("Face To Face With The Devil") and White Zombie ("Step By Step"), some touches of old-school Black Metal ("I Will Rise Again") and even a hint of gospel (!Step By Step"). Also noteworthy is the presence of three covers (King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man"; Black Sabbath - "Into the Void"; Goblin - "Profondo Rosso") all well-executed and adapted to the band's sound which fit seamlessly with their original songs.

Allhelluja thus continue their upward trajectory, the band certainly cannot be accused of stagnation and even if it's not a masterpiece with a capital "M," the CD is enjoyable and can be listened to willingly, the direction taken is definitely the right one.

Rating: 7.5