For a long time heavy metal revolved around one question only: Who is hard, who is harder, who is hardest. Finally, metal went to extremes in its attempts to generate more power. “How can we one-up that,” thought the Swedish trio Hellsongs. “Meanwhile, the hardest and most courageous style in heavy metal is to play soft,” claims Kalle Karlson, guitarist of candy-floss rockers Hellsongs from Gothenburg. The opposite of a deafening metal barrage is laid-back lounge music. Discovering slowness in metal reveals a charming surprise. Effortlessly the songs drift towards the refrain, thereby pleasantly enabling the listener to clearly understand the often-deep lyrics.

Kalle Karlsson is a passionate metal aficionado who has rocked with many a band. “I started out playing soft metal, but my style just kept getting harder and harder, until it went all out. I still listen to groups like Entombed, At The Gates and Sepultura.” The guitarist had the idea to reverse the trend of metal when listening to the b-side of a single by Billy Corgan’s Zwan.”  They covered ‘The Number Of The Beast’ by my favourite band Iron Maiden. Their version was very lo-fi. It’s one of my favourite songs. I have heard it thousands of times. When I was 16, I learned the riff. I never understood the lyrics, until the content became clear through the Zwan version. That made the track even better.”

The Hellsongs debut album “Hymns In The Key Of 666” compiles a kind of greatest hits of heavy metal. From AC/DC to Metallica and Slayer all the way to Iron Maiden – represented by two cover versions – the giants of the genre can be found here. “Most fans only know the chorus, but our singer Harriet sings so that you get the rest as well,” says Karlsson. “We attempt to freely interpret the atmosphere of the songs in order to make them interesting. However, as soon as the refrain sets in, you should be able to recognize the track.”

While band founder Karlsson selects the songs, the often beguiling Harriet Ohlsson creates the unusual arrangements, with keyboarder Johan Bringhed contributing his knowledge in music theory. Together the trio call themselves Hellsongs, “because all the bands whose tracks we have selected have this typical metal image with hell, Satan and the devil’s horns hand sign. We feel at home in heavy metal,” says Karlsson. The album title “Hymns In The Key Of 666” was inspired by Stevie Wonder’s “Songs In The Key Of Life.” “To us it was important to demonstrate that there is not an ounce of irony involved. It is about the love for and the appreciation of the good sides of heavy metal.”

Hymns In The Key of 666 APCD-035 [23.03.2010] Compact Disc – $/€/£15.00 – Add To Cart