After getting this CD for review, I took it home and gave it two quick listens. I quickly forgot about it until an email asking for a review popped up in my inbox.
Unfortunately, unmemorable is really the only word to describe the debut, full-length album from the angry boys from London, Hell is for Heroes. The Neon Handshake contains 12 tracks of well-produced punk meets metal thrash in the vein of a not-as-good Refused or a less-sincere Deftones.
While tracks such as “Out of Sight” or “Disconnector” show a band that has almost perfectly worked all the elements of an amazing modern rock tune together, lyrics such as “walk slow into the vacuum/this is the end of everything/welcome back to the black hole,” show the underbelly of a band that is much too interested in writing angry teenager bad poetry that typically graces the genre. I swear, the band must talk about “the end” more times in forty minutes than the crazies down on Stephen Avenue.
At least the band has an understanding of the style of music they write. They even poke a little fun at themselves, giving the all-too-correct title of Slow Song to the trademark break that is supposed to show that the band is in touch with their emotions. If anything, it just shows how truly artificial Hell is for Heroes really are.
Once we reach “the end” that singer Justin Schlosberg keeps talking about, any memories of the disc seem to disappear, making The Neon Handshake just another forgettable album in the collection.