HELL: TRACK BY TRACK COMMENTARY W/ KEV BOWER

With a little over a week left until the November, 26th North American release of the second HELL album, Curse And Chapter, HELL guitarist, main songwriter, and keyboard player Kev Bower shares the following about the album and then digs a little deeper into each song. “Following up Human Remains was never going to be an easy task. The multiple 'Album Of The Year' awards, the amazing reaction from fans and the media alike - we always knew that our second album was going to have to be something quite special. And so it was with this in mind, that work started seriously almost two years ago, with myself and [guitarist] Andy Sneap laying down the first rough song studio demos - songs which the band would take out on the road, playing some of them at selected shows throughout 2012 and early 2013 to try them out on audiences first, before committing them to a proper recording. That proved to be a valuable experience, with the songs evolving, changing and developing into what everyone will hear on the finished album. Here's a short resume of the track list, and how everything came together…” Track 1 - GEHENNAE INCENDIIS “You only get one chance to make a first impression' someone once told me. They were right. Many people were fascinated at how Human Remains ended, with the sound of a huge door being slammed shut. But what could possibly be on the other side of that door - and what unspeakable nightmares lay in wait there? We open that door once again, and now reveal the answer. But be warned that this is no ordinary door - this is a gateway. A portal to another world...” Track 2 - THE AGE OF NEFARIOUS “The album's opening track was originally brought to the studio by me sometime early in 2013, and the music was written around a killer set of lyrics from David [Bower, vocalist], who has become responsible for a substantial proportion of the lyrics and vocal arrangements on this album. It makes perfect sense - he has to deliver these lines with passion, and what better way to ensure this than to deliver words from his head and his heart. Andy's massive skill and experience as a producer helped me to arrange this into a song which twists and turns numerous times before reaching its inevitable conclusion.” Track 3 - THE DISPOSER SUPREME “The first of Curse And Chapter's 'old' HELL songs which we have re-worked from the 1980s. What can one say about a song which changes key 17 times and time signature 12 times all within the first 3 minutes? Like many things which we do, it shouldn't work - but it does. This song very nearly made it onto the first album, and it's a total pleasure to present this updated version now. With this, and some other songs on the album, I especially enjoyed revisiting and recreating some of the vintage analog synthesizer sounds which I originally used. Digital is fantastic for soundscapes, orchestration and choirs, but for good old searing lead lines, you just can't beat the warmth of oscillators, ADSR's and filters...” Track 4 - DARKHANGEL “A song written about Aleister Crowley's infamous attempts to raise the demon Pan in a Paris hotel room in the 1930s. This track evolved in exactly the same way as 'The Age Of Nefarious,' with Andy helping to rearrange and structure my original music into something more coherent, and with David taking my original lyrical ideas and transforming them into a great story about one of the most notorious occult events in history. The intro soundscape features the voice of Crowley himself, lifted from an old wax cylinder recording.” Track 5 - HARBINGER OF DEATH “Every HELL album will feature a pure cover of a RACE AGAINST TIME song. Last time we did 'The Oppressors' - but this one was always my all-time RAT favorite. It's our way of paying tribute not only to the sadly missed Dave Halliday and keeping his memory alive, but also to acknowledge the outstanding talents of Alan Short, RAT's bass player and joint songwriter. We're honored to feature Alan himself