There is no doubt about the fact that 'The Neon Handshake' was a good record. I would even go so far as to say it was a great debut that became more than...

MORE >

There is no doubt about the fact that 'The Neon Handshake' was a good record. I would even go so far as to say it was a great debut that became more than enough to back up Hell is for Heroes’ rabble-rousing live show that has seen them accumulate a hefty legion of followers. Alas, the record was received poorly and their major label didn’t want to know about the second album. You hear this story far too often.
Transmit Disrupt, then, is a make or break attempt at regaining the position of one of Britain’s finest and self-releasing the record on singer Justin Schlosberg’s Captains of Industry label is more of a “fuck you” to the system than an easy way out. Make no bones about it; there is nothing easy about this record.

Many had listed this album to be one of the next greats and as expected there are some mighty impressive tracks on display here. Gone, however, are the numerous crunching palm-muted chords used so liberally on their debut in exchange for a cleaner, less distorted but more frantic guitar sound seen more on ‘Sick/Happy’, even venturing occasionally toward comfortably rolling picked riffs in ‘They will call us Savages’.

Schlosberg’s passionate rallying call pervades each song with a sense of urgency and zeal so often missed from other bands. His cries and yelps fall perfectly in the standout tracks of the controlled stop-start frenzy that is ‘Folded Paper Figures’ and the thunderously epic ‘Silent as the Grave’ while his measured, emaciated whisper sets up the title track with ease before settling into a grandiose finale.

While the band has focused its sound with a greater sense of art and vigour, musical variation is much less sparse. Indeed, with the inclusion of two short measures of buckled feedback aimed at being instrumental tracks there is an impending sense of each track merely blending into the next without fashioning the kind of identities that tracks such as ‘I Can Climb Mountains’ and ‘You Drove Me To It’ from their debut have done. Sadly, it seems that Hell is for Heroes are destined to be the perennial hard-working band that play hundreds of shows each year but will never sell quite enough records to make the mark they so thoroughly deserve to leave behind.

< LESS

On Hell Is For Heroes' Transmit Disrupt, we find a recent Burning Heart signing that could've just as easily fit on the Lujo Records roster. What this...

MORE >

On Hell Is For Heroes' Transmit Disrupt, we find a recent Burning Heart signing that could've just as easily fit on the Lujo Records roster. What this means is impressively dense post-hardcore with a soft Fugazi influence spread conservatively throughout that requires repeated listening but rewards sufficiently.

Hell Is For Heroes' song structure could certainly use a bit of work, but they know how to drop a well-placed hook where it needs to be, while songs like "Kamichi" exhibit strange time signatures and compelling rhythms. They clearly know how to create atmosphere without half-assed guitar swirling, instead going for multiple layers and cymbal-heavy percussion. The Muse nodding of "Quiet Riot" is quite helpful, serving up a grey and spacey, five-minute post-destruction landscape.

Some reviews have spotted a subtle influence from Refused, and while it's a bit outlandish to think of, there are spots where it's clear HIFH have definitely taken cues. The excellent "Models For the Programme" abruptly hints at Dennis Lyxzén's intense yelp in its chorus, as does the charged yells, few outright screams and simpler riffing of "Folded Paper Figures" and light electronics in "One of Us."

Transmit Disrupt may be in need of some more connection inside of its individual tracks and some time-wise trimming overall, but Hell Is For Heroes brew a thick, tasty stew here. Just be sure to spit out the bones.

< LESS