ANVIL – Hope In Hell – CD review

ANVIL
Hope In Hell
Steamhammer

Everybody loves Anvil nowadays. Ever since the documentary “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” they’ve been the The Little Engine that Could. Thing is, no matter how many times people tell you how uplifting their story was, it’s actually really depressing. And the other thing that seems to pass people by is the reason for their lack of success. It’s nothing to do with bad managers, mistimed tours,stray cucumbers or acts of God. It’s because Anvil were never that good.

For sure, they got a bit lucky in the early eighties when the over the top antics of frontman Lips were a buzz for teenage boys, but once puberty went by, no-one was going to listen to even the best of their records. So here they are with studio album number 15, and it’s pretty much the same as every Anvil record of the early eighties. Granted, there are a few thrashy moments in their, which means they now sound like a band from 1987 instead of 1982, but that’s as progressive as things are going to get. Now, don’t get me wrong. If you are living in a state of arrested development, wear a backwards baseball cap, use the word ‘dude’ far too often, and think that skate shorts are ‘the bomb’, then this will work for you.

After all, this is a world where people who are older than me perform dated metal tunes called ‘Bad Ass Rock’n’Roll’ and ‘Shut The Fuck Up’. The record has a good sound, as it was produced by Bob Marlette (Black Sabbath, Airbourne, Alice Cooper), there are even a few fly by your pants solos that momentarily fool you, like on ‘The Fight Is Never Won’, but the recycled riffs and Beavis & Butthead lyrics make the whole thing fall flat on its face. Dude.

Buy from Amazon

Ah, the eighties!