Leicester based Brit rockers HELL’s ADDICTION were, like many a band the world over, stopped in their tracks by the onset of the Pandemic. Coming at a time when the band seemed to be building up a good head of steam, it left the band twiddling their thumbs and wondering what might have been.
That wondering stops now with the imminent release of their new album, the enigmatically-monickered ”9 O’Clock Horses”. It’s an album that sees the band heroically making up for lost time over the course of a dozen rampant, retroactive roars of defiance, all of which sound like they were forged in a fire equal parts desperation and determination.
A ragged-throated call to arms that LA Guns would have killed to put their name to ‘back in the day’, it provides all the evidence you need that what we have here is a band in the very rudest of health. HELL’S ADDICTION have an organic late 80s hard rock sound, but singer Ben Sargent has a modern earthiness to his voice. This makes for a decent mix of past and present hard rock styles.
The band cover a lot of ground across the course of the album, from sunny radio rock (Scream Your Name) to balls-to-the-wall, heads down hard rock bravado (standout track Playing Chicken With A Knife), in the process confirming their status as one of the very best rock bands the UK has to offer in 2023.
Everyone plays a part in this statement of intent, with vocalist Sargent leading from the front with a thoroughly convincing performance on just about every track, whilst Dan Weir and Liam Sargent form a formidable six-string partnership behind him.
Luke Morley (drums – no, not that Luke Morley…) and bassist Jason Green keep the engine room ticking over nicely, and together, on tracks like the effervescent Run For Your Life (which brings the mighty Gun in their pomp to mind), they give the impression that very big things indeed may be in store for them just a little bit further down the track…
We certainly hope that’s the case.
Highly Recommended
Leave It Alone
Upside Down
Scream Your Name
Run for Your Life
Crying Over Me
Your Master Plan
Save Me
Give Me a Sign
Love
Playing Chicken with a Knife
Stare into the Sun
Cannot Hide
Hell’s Addiction – 9 O’Clock Horses 2023, MP3 + FLAC
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