2004-08-25
It was about two months ago, upon listening to the new Dream Evil that I first heard Andy Alkman, doing guest vocals on the No Way track.
I was amazed at the resemblance the guy's voice had to Ozzy Ozbourn's, when interviewing Snowy Shaw, Dream Evil's drummer and co-vocalist he told me that Fredrick Nordstrom brought in this guy, who sings for a band called Hellfueled.
Well, a few days ago this album, the band's first, came through the post, and the minute I put into the stereo, I knew I had a winner.
In a nutshell, Hellfueled combine tracks that sound as if taken from Ozzy's first albums with Zack Wylde, with tracks that take Black Sabbath's riffs, and drive them into a faster, stonier ground.
All band members excel at their instruments, with Andy's carbon copy of Ozzy's voice leading through the mix, and extra kudos go to the guitarist for some great riffs and several outstanding guitar leads.
Opening track, Let Me Out is the best here, straight out of Ozzy's No Rest For The Wicked, there's a fast, energy driven riff, great chorus, and a great Zack Wylde like riff, second track, Midnight Lady has the Sabbath vibe to it, and Second Deal combines the two, over whole, the album is a simple, kick-ass metal album, with some weaker bits in the last part of it, and very strong cuts on the rest,
But for any metal fan that misses the best part of Ozzy's career, Hellfueled capture just that, and they do it really really well.!
Alon Miasnikov
