Reviews
2007-02-12
Switzerland's Stoned Hill are a black metal band, with some melodic elements, but mostly into more simplistic, quite raw black metal with some blackened thrash elements.
A few pointers before I even get to the music: bands need to sort out their names and album artwork if they want someone to buy their stuff, and Stoned Hill are one band in severe need of that, the name wouldn’t have brought a black metal band to mind, if anything – a stoner band, and the cover is as ugly as it gets.
Musically it's better, they have some playing skills, and the sound isn’t that bad for such an effort, quite obviously done with a zero budget, but it isn’t any unsung classic as well. The lyrics are quite simplistic and unimaginative, and the music is lost in an effort to come off as dark and brutal, some tracks feature some nice riffing, but it's mostly lost in a barrage of ideas not fully fleshed out.
It's not that bad, oldschool black metal fans might be able to find some merit to this, but I still think the band needs to sharpen their skills, change their name and put some more effort into their lyrics and image.
Alon Miasnikov
