Hell Is For Heroes
Transmit Disrupt

THE REVIEW

Come on, guys, sit down! Roll call! Solos? Present, but I'm sleepy! Watch out, I'll give you a note! Basses? Present and in shape! Electro-Beat (the foreigner)? Present, like before, more than before! Belcanto? Present, I'll do the work for two! Melody? Prof, I sleep here, why are you asking? Ok..ok..don't get angry! Snare drum? Present, present! Storsio Pedals (the noble)? Present, but I'm leaving an hour early, I've got a note! It will be forged as usual! Riffoni? Riffoni?? Prof, Riffoni is absent. Oh well. So, today a surprise assignment. Nuuuoooaaaaaahhhh! Quiet, quiet, and write. Topic: "How to produce an excellent rock album in modern times without Riffoni" But, Prof, it's impossible, Riffoni is the class representative. Tzè, it can be done...it can be done! Come on, you have only 43min and 48sec. Get to work!

"Transmit Disrupt" (2006 @ Burning Heart Records*) is the famous "second" album, the one that confirms, the one many have botched. Hell Is For Heroes perhaps to distance themselves from the criticisms of lack of originality have dropped the metal and EMO attitude (everyone will shout hurray) and have embraced a more complex, more studied rock (well done, you've studied!) but without losing a bit of their energy and especially discovering in Justin Schlosberg not only a gifted and energetic singer but a top-notch songwriter. Directness is penalized (one point less) in favor of an ever-increasing appreciation over time (2 points more). Give it time, give it more listens (as a good teacher should do). Each track has its story, it develops and explodes into a Belcanto that often replaces Riffoni (so much then they make you pay for it, lazybones), or in very powerful Bass lines. The guitars are always clean, Pedals comes and goes as he pleases and Solos is meted out.

"Kamichi" is the bridge. The speed of the first work and the explosions are there but mitigated by guitars that are never excessive. This is what made some early fans frown, while it tickled those who do it with both hands (??). In "Models For The Programme" Electro-Beat speaks its mind recalling at the outset "Sick/Happy" from the first album. A persistent Bass follows the rhythm without missing a beat. The pieces initially have the advantage of not being clear where the verse is and where the chorus is. What remains in the head is the pleasure of sound or the memory of the crescendo and it all stimulates a re-listen. "They Will Call Us Savages" amazes with pathos without ever using Pedals. The guitars have that soft pick impact and strings just mounted on an electrified acoustic played without an amplifier. One of the best moments of the album is the duet "Silent As The Grave", sung all in one breath and with Melody elected as the class representative by plebiscite (Riffoni is jealous!), and "One Of Us" with Solos waking from slumber in a wonderful, exhilarating "instrumental chorus." These are the "new" Hell Is For Heroes, whether you like it or not! I do, in my Winamp for months now.

Well done, guys. Excellent assignment. Tomorrow oral exam for everyone. Nuuuuooooaahhhh! Come on, come on, exams never end.

*Actually, the first version of the album was in 2005 under EMI with a different package, but a dispute between the label and the band ended the collaboration and HIFH had to start over. Let's call it a "second" youth.