CoC : Raise Hell - Holy Target : Review

Raise Hell - _Holy Target_
(Nuclear Blast, 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz (8 out of 10)

I imagine I am not the first, and I am sure I won't be the last, to say that if Raise Hell sound like anyone, especially anyone significant, they sound like Dissection. I am surely also not the only person to have expected them to sound like another Dis... band from seeing their promo photos. Still, when a band are as influential, and as good, as Dissection, one expects a great number of bands to mimic them on a number of different levels. Some do it poorly and others do it rather well; Raise Hell fall into the latter category. Yes, admittedly, most of what makes _Holy Target_ so appealing lies in the similarities it bears to _Storm of the Light's Bane_, but Raise Hell still salvage nearly all their dignity through good playing and the penning of a very consistent and melodically complex album. The production further helps in bestowing _Holy Target_ with a sound as viciously spiked and bullet-ridden as the band's wrist and waist adornments, respectively. Overall, Raise Hell are lucky that Dissection are no more. They aren't on top of their pile -- that position belongs to Dawn --, but they are also very safely away from scraping the bottom of the barrel and, along with others such as Taetre, could be elevated further in the future.

(article published 19/11/1998)

ALBUMS
20/10/2003	A Lineker	5.5	Raise Hell - Wicked Is My Game