This is a side project of drummer Van Williams from Nevermore and Christ Eichhorn. They are an unsigned band in the Demo stage. Three of the six songs from thier demo are available at thier website, an annoying flash-based site.
I am a fairly big fan of Nevermore, who are still recording thier new album. I saw the link to Pure Sweet Hell on the website and got curious enough to check them out.
I like these songs. They are extremely tight and well played. It is an interesting mix of melodic, progressive metal with death metal vocals. The songs are very well written and arranged, with killer hooks and riffs. The drumming is superior to almost everything new I've heard in the metal genre recently. Van Williams is an awesome drummer with an impecable sense of timing. The guitar work is solid with a nice emphasis on the leads without being an overpowering guitar-oriented band. They subtly use the bass-lines and some keyboards to accentuate the powerful drumming.
The main drawback is the cookie-monsterish death metal vocals. The lyrics themselves are damned good, in writing. Although I'm not a huge fan of the death-growl vocal style anymore, since I've heard it too much, it kind of fits in here nicely in order to make these songs stand out. I'm not sure how these would sound with a more traditional vocalist, but I'm pretty sure it would take away from what they are trying to accomplish with this, so I'd leave it alone. The blend of progressive-metal styled music with the growling vocals is a new touch and I found it to be one that grows on you rather nicely.
The three songs I downloaded, "House of Gods," "Sentinals," and "The Kill in Me," are pretty impressive songs. The music style and writing are very good, verging on impressive and the mix is extremely clear for a demo.
You can order thier demo CD (with 6 songs, instead of the 3 that are downloadable) for $10.00 USD plus $4.00 shipping and handling ($6.00 outside of the U.S.) from the "Merch" section of the website. It comes in a neat DVD case with complete lyrics, bio, etc.
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