Artist: Hell Promise
Album: Aim for Hell
Label: Rocketstar
Tracks:10
Length: 35 minutes
Reviewed by: Jeff "Hell on wheels" K.

Anyone who knows me well enough, knows I'm a chump for metal.  I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to metal of just about any flavor.  As long as it doesn't involve Fred Durst to some degree, I'll at least give it a listen.

I have to admit that I had a hard time getting past the cover of the debut album from former Himsa guitarist Brian Johnson.  A band name like Hell Promise, with a debut cd called "Aim for Hell", came off incredibly cliché to me, in addition to just really sounding cheesy.  It's almost as if they tried too hard.  But nonetheless, I pressed on, determined to give the cd a good, objective listen.

What you get here is pretty much your run of the mill metal.  Hints of Pantera, Megadeth, and a LITTLE bit of Slayer can be heard throughout the cd, although it isn't as 'old school' sounding as those influences might imply.  The lyrics are pretty much your atypical angry metal guy lyrics.  Song titles like "Brass Knuckle Nightmare", "The New Black Death", and "Time Bomb" pretty much tell the story.  Lots of pent-up metal rage is contained within the 10 tracks of this cd. 

All in all, "Aim for Hell" isn't a 'bad' cd, if you're looking for some straight-up no frills metal, but don't look for Hell Promise to be riding the next wave of good metal bands to be recognized in the scene.