THERE'S NO 666 IN OUTER SPACE

After completely missing the mark with their third album, Chirpin' Hard/Church Gone Wild, this album returns back to their sound established on Hold Your Horse Is, but with much more. For starters they are no longer a duo, having brought on another guitarist in Josh Hill ( Zach's brother ), Bassist Carson McWhirter, and Singer Aaron Ross. Rest assured that their sound is still very much intact and in some ways boosted by the new members. The vocalist is a really great additioon that adds a whole new level to Hella's sound in that it really works very well. The singing never gets in the way off the muscians performances at all, and the way he sings fits the music very nicely. There also is a lot more variation between songs. The opener World Series, has a saxophone solo in it, courtesy of Skerik, who has worked with a ton of bands including Les Claypool, Kayo Dot, and toured with Roger Waters to name a few. Hand That Rocks The Cradle is a lot more electronic than anything else on this cd, but it is not the type that was on the previous albums, it is less video game like, and more synth like, and a lot smoother sounding. 2012 And Countless starts off with some electronic noise washs, before exploding into more familar Hella territory.

All the songs on this are a favorite of mine, and once again Hella have proven what a amazing and rather versatile band they are.