REVIEW: Hell Death Fury - 'La Torta De La Muerte' (Self Released)

'La Torta De La Muerte' is a six track EP made by five men who hail from the Wiltshire town of Melksham. Hell Death Fury deliver something way beyond the tried and tested ska-punk formula, bashing out an adrenaline fuelled blend of metal, dub, hardcore and rocksteady with occasional dips into hip hop, funk and whatever else they feel like throwing into the mixture. After forming in 2007, they gathered up enough material to release a debut album entitled 'Free Porn' in 2010 before spending the last four years gigging and refining their sound. Their new EP flies by at just over twelve minutes in length, serving up a face smacking wake up call that energises, excites and highly amuses with its fun and bizarre choices of lyrical topics.

The opening 'Cletus The Fetus' roars into a mentally unsteady bounce resembling a thrash metal Madness, slipping into offbeat grooves in between thrashing the living shit out of their instruments, while the lively skank and catchy verses of the bouncy, slightly psychobilly-tinged 'Zombie Party' give way to another raging chorus, bursts of fierce riffage and a shitstorm of apocalyptic keys, before leading nicely into a brilliantly arranged dub version of the track. Launching into full on roots reggae, the insanely catchy 'Marijuana' is a terrific pro-legalisation anthem that has all the hooks you could possibly wish for. It's so infectious and well accomplished that you can forgive any sense of parody. From one extreme to another, 'Galahad' is a searing blast of budget lager inspired hardcore punk, where the influence of New York skacore squatters Leftover Crack can be heard in amongst the screaming delivery and blazing riff rampages. The EP closes with the title track ''La Torta De La Muerte'', the most savage song about cake baking that you're ever likely to hear, a vicious ska-metal concoction that wraps things up by letting rip with full throated ferocity.

Brilliant, ridiculously energising and infectious music that makes you want to put on a pork pie hat, light up a spliff, bake an evil cake, and party. HDF succeed in making a heavy combination of styles sound completely natural, fusing the spirit of reggae, thrash metal, punk and dub and distilling it into a force that's as potent as the weed they sing about smoking. 8/10

The whole EP is available as a pay-what-you-like download from their Bandcamp page HERE. A live album recorded at The Fleece in Bristol is also available for a nominal fee. Do give generously.

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