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Frozen
Inside
Artist: HB (Holy Bible)
Label: Bullroser Records
Time: 10 tracks/48:57 minutes.
Take one look at the front cover of Finnish HB’s first English label record _Frozen Inside_. What’s the first thing to come to mind? Evanescence. Note the band photo, with the close up of their attractive female singer Johanna. Now take a look at the cover of the original Finnish language release of the same record, titled _Enne_. Note the cool symbolic picture of the world in God’s hands. Hmmm….
Could it be that Bullroser is trying to market HB as an Evanescence clone to the North American public? All signs point to “yes.” And that is unfortunate for two reasons. First, Evanescence is long over (marketing FAIL!) Secondly, HB is way better than Evanescence, and don’t even sound like Evanescence!
HB is symphonic metal. The production is super clean, and the metallic chugging is rounded out with tons of strings and choral vocals. This is very pretty metal that has the potential to appeal to people who normally don’t dig the metal. The band’s biggest asset is, of course, singer Johanna. Her voice is gorgeous and her vocals are consistently clear and engaging. So, not only is this pretty but catchy too!
The lyrics are very interesting. Take away the music and replace it with acoustic guitars and bongos and you would have a modern worship album. These lyrics would fit into a church service no problem. This is odd for metal. One could call it a metal worship album. That’s pretty cool. I find myself listening to this not when I want metal, but when I want alternative sounding worship. The band even takes out to preach a salvation message in track 9, “Way.” There is no doubt where their hearts are. I look forward to the next English HB album, due out later this year. Maybe a better cover next time though?
Noah Salo
http://shineisdead.wordpress.com
Artist: HB (Holy Bible)
Label: Bullroser Records
Time: 10 tracks/48:57 minutes.
Take one look at the front cover of Finnish HB’s first English label record _Frozen Inside_. What’s the first thing to come to mind? Evanescence. Note the band photo, with the close up of their attractive female singer Johanna. Now take a look at the cover of the original Finnish language release of the same record, titled _Enne_. Note the cool symbolic picture of the world in God’s hands. Hmmm….
Could it be that Bullroser is trying to market HB as an Evanescence clone to the North American public? All signs point to “yes.” And that is unfortunate for two reasons. First, Evanescence is long over (marketing FAIL!) Secondly, HB is way better than Evanescence, and don’t even sound like Evanescence!
HB is symphonic metal. The production is super clean, and the metallic chugging is rounded out with tons of strings and choral vocals. This is very pretty metal that has the potential to appeal to people who normally don’t dig the metal. The band’s biggest asset is, of course, singer Johanna. Her voice is gorgeous and her vocals are consistently clear and engaging. So, not only is this pretty but catchy too!
The lyrics are very interesting. Take away the music and replace it with acoustic guitars and bongos and you would have a modern worship album. These lyrics would fit into a church service no problem. This is odd for metal. One could call it a metal worship album. That’s pretty cool. I find myself listening to this not when I want metal, but when I want alternative sounding worship. The band even takes out to preach a salvation message in track 9, “Way.” There is no doubt where their hearts are. I look forward to the next English HB album, due out later this year. Maybe a better cover next time though?
Noah Salo
http://shineisdead.wordpress.com