The Hellacopters: Eyes Of Oblivion (2022, Nuclear Blast Records)

The Hellacopters is a band that needs no introduction, one of those parallel projects that came to life in 1994 and that little by little gained more and more ground until consolidating itself as a band with its own name with the release of its debut album, Supershitty To The Max!, released in 1996 first on vinyl in a very limited edition and later on CD.

This project led by the then well-known Nicke Hellacopter, whom we have also known as Nick Royale, would end up giving so much of himself that he would finally have to abandon his main project, Entombed, to dedicate himself body and soul to the beast that he had initially formed with Dregen (Backyard Babies). Together with guitarist Anders Boba Fett Lindström (The Diamond Dogs), bassist Kenny Håkansson (Entombed) and drummer Matz Robban Robert Eriksson, they would give life to the band’s first two works, the aforementioned Supershitty To The Max! and Payin’ The Dues, released in 1997. Fett would then become the keyboardist in The Hellacopters since their formation.

Dregen would end up leaving The Hellacopters after releasing his second album to dedicate himself completely to Backyard Babies, who at that time was also working on his second studio album, Total 13, released in 1998. With the departure of Dregen in 1999, Anders Boba Fett Lindström would assume the role of guitarist on the third studio album, Grande Royale, released in 1999. With the addition of the late Robert Dahlqvist as guitarist and again with Fett on keyboards, The Hellacopters offer their best work to date just entering the new millennium, High Visibility, an album acclaimed by both the press and the public in which they completely move away from the dirtiest garage rock of their first albums and where they present a maturity that is present in the thirteen new compositions that give life to this magnificent work.

In 2002 they returned to the studio to offer a totally timeless album, By The Grace Of God, an album that would also present the emblem that the band would use from that moment on and that would become the hallmark of the Swedish quintet. In 2005 they would continue to increase their discography with a sadly forgotten Rock & Roll Is Dead with which they would continue exploring the more melodic side of the band while maintaining that sound that had characterized them during their first ten years as a band.

In 2008, however, it was time to say goodbye to The Hellacopters in style with a solid album such as Head Off, an album composed of twelve covers by artists who have influenced the band over the years with which They put an end to a fourteen-year career in which they achieved all kinds of successes and with which they set a precedent in the history of music. We had to wait eight long years until The Hellacopters would rise from the abyss in the biggest way, remembering their debut album in its entirety live on a night that was intended to be unique.

The success of their reunion led its original members to reconsider the total reunion of The Hellacopters, signing Sami Yaffa from Hanoi Rocks as bassist to cover some concerts in 2017 after the departure of Kenny Håkansson. With Dolf DeBorst as official bassist since 2018, the band announced a full-time return from then on, participating in numerous festivals around the world since then, so the only thing left to do was return to the studio to record a new album. This is how in December of last year they announced the long-awaited resurgence of The Hellacopters by releasing the single Reap A Hurricane, welcoming Eyes Of Oblivion in style.

Fourteen years after sinking my teeth into Head Off, it is somewhat difficult to maintain sanity and not get carried away by feelings towards a band that I would easily put in a fairly high position in my personal ranking. Sometimes it is difficult to put aside feelings and face an album objectively, and in the case of Eyes Of Oblivion I have tried to maintain form so as not to put this album on a pedestal before writing this review. I had to listen to the album several times over the course of a week and a half to settle all the ideas and feelings that were flooding my head while I delighted in the Swedes’ eighth adventure in the studio.

What can I say about Eyes Of Oblivion in general terms? It is difficult to offer a clear and concise verdict when we talk about The Hellacopters, because there is a lot of fabric to cut here. Roughly speaking, I can say that Eyes Of Oblivion is a great old-school rock album, an album of just thirty-four minutes that goes by in a flash and that you can easily play three times in a row without realizing it. This is nothing new for fans of The Hellacopters, as one of the band’s greatest qualities is how well they fit in at any time of the day.

They haven’t lost their hook, there are very good ideas and it is a great album, but I also have to say that it is not any of the albums they had released with Dregen. There are very addictive cuts like Eyes Of Oblivion or The Pressure’s On, songs that sound one hundred percent The Hellacopters, although they also do not have the band’s distinctiveness that we did find on High Visibility. There are certain songs that could well be discards from Imperial State Electric or that we could probably find on any of their albums, in a way it seems that Nicke has begun to compose with total freedom and that Dregen has had the right role. Is this necessarily a bad thing? Absolutely. Eyes Of Oblivion is a great album that could be the masterpiece of any other band of the same genre.

There is a lot of feeling locked into this album and the proof of this is the profound So Sorry I Could Die. This is where the magic of The Hellacopters lies, offering a totally atypical song in their catalog that shows us a totally dedicated Nicke in which Dregen also shines on the six strings with an emotional and heartbreaking guitar solo. Probably the most atypical song is the most interesting of this interesting Eyes Of Oblivion, where we can also see Anders Lindström totally cohesive with the band, delighting those of us who have always enjoyed his contributions as keyboardist in The Hellacopters.

The fast Can It Wait sounds fresh and is perfect to chain the brutal Reap a Hurricane with which they welcome us before moving on to the aforementioned So Sorry I Could Die, but it is totally overwhelming when Eyes Of Oblivion makes an appearance. The album lifts completely when the title track comes to the fore, one of those 100% The Hellacopters cuts that will not be missing from any live show from now on. With A Plow And A Doctor, this first side of the album drops a bit without getting boring at any point, although the feeling of having heard it before is already present.

Perhaps the second side is the one that comes out the worst, although it starts off in the most energetic way possible. Positively Not Knowing opens the B side of the album with rhythm and a handful of solid riffs that unfortunately suffers with the entry of a less inspired Tin Foil Soldier. At first it was one of the cuts that I liked the most on the entire album, but as I have listened to it I have opted for other more fun cuts like Beguiled, the high point of this second side.

The Pressure’s On is the prelude to Try Me Tonight, an energetic cut that will get you out of your seat if you haven’t started shaking your hair until now. I’m very afraid that if the previous nine cuts haven’t made you dance like crazy, something bad is happening to you, go to the doctor. The Hellacopters saves almost the best for last, celebrating in style a return that, without shining like their previous works, fulfills its purpose perfectly. It is likely that at some point it will sound too flat, although The Hellacopters have not been known for innovating in their compositions, precisely. I greatly appreciate the return of the Swedish quintet and even more so if it is with Eyes Of Oblivion, but what I am most grateful for is that the Nuclear Blast factory has not touched the content.