The Neon Handshake

The Neon Handshake is a step on from the HR album Ideas Above Our Station, the riffs are more intelligent, the chaos more subtle and the melodies are, well, more delicate and run deeper than simple riffing. HIFH's frontman has the same tendancy to scream as much as he sings, a la Colin Doran but his voice is stronger than the Hundred Reasons vocalist, rarely (if ever) faltering. The biggest difference to me is that HIFH are a much tighter band rhythmically. It seems their drummer is of a different class, and although the style of rock is different, it is worth comparing HIFH's rhythm section with that of the Deftones and A Perfect Circle. Even the production seems more suiting to the style, the Neon Handshake maintaining beautiful sonic balance whilst retaining the rawness of heavy rock, for example the ring on the snare drum really adds to the whole mood a dynamic of the song. This is all epitomised by the excellent single 'You Drove Me to It'.

There are some standout tracks here. 'Night Vision' borrows Placebo-esque drive and soaring melody, combining it with Deftones-like heaviness. 'I Can Climb Mountains' is arguably the album's best, fusing delicate chiming melody with all the angst and pure adrenaline of a Hundred Reasons track. 'Cut Down' and 'Few Against Many' are reasonable tracks, but amongst songs of such quality they seem a little lacklustre. This album exudes class, passion and ability from every pore.

The Neon Handshake is a thoroughly satisfying album to listen to. Although the lack of true originality means that this debut wont change the face of music, the material is brilliantly fresh. This is one to turn up loud...

Lots and lots were promised by this band. Symposium briefly rocked the western world, and when Hell is for Heroes began to tour, memories of that band came back.

So what to expect? More middle of the road guitar chunter with maybe one or two good songs (See also Hundred Reasons) or maybe some hardcore off the rails expressway-2-yr-skull rage (See also The Icarus Line). The reality, however, is so much more...

The stunningly names quintet bring much more to the table than their predecessors. With a couple of members in common with the 'Posium, the powerful crunching riffage is, of course, abundant, but it's the other ingredients which make this album so indispensable. The stunningly simple live opener Slow Song exemplifies the Hell is for Heroes sound, drifting from mellow, floating melody to crunching, violent peaks and back again.

The same can be said of stand out track Sick/Happy. This song shows other bands how to do the soft-hard-soft thing with stlye, originalty and, take note InMe, power and feeling. The hardest thing to believe about this song is that it was the first ever written by the band.

A special mention must go to Out Of Sight, for being one of the most powerful songs put on record since The Icarus Line told us to 'Feed A Cat to your Cobra'.

The singles are, in the most part, stunning. You Drove Me To It and I Can Climb Mountains are two of the most addictive and driving peieces of pure RoCk you are likely to hear this year, but the song Night Vision is relatively weak. That said, its still a stunning tune, just lacks the flair of the rest of the album.

Before we talk too much about the vitriol and power of this album, we have to rember the melodic side. Along with the aforementioned Slow Song, Disconnector and Few Against Many show up this side of the record, but to be honest, on every song on here, the melody struggles above the raging forests of feedback and glides gracefully like a bird...

If Hell is for Heroes, then these lads are heading straight for retirement in the devilish clutches of Belezebub, because if this debut is anything to go by, we may just be dealing with the new heroes of British rock.

Five stars, the first of 2003.