HELL SIGNS TO NUCLEAR BLAST

[daniel]

Any other band does this, any other band signs to NB, gives that sort of response to a KIT offer etc. - they suck yo. Hell does - everything's cool bro. I'm exaggerrating but this IS true to some extent - no one is totally true to their ideals - people are likely to overlook their friends doing the same things they complained about 'strangers' doing. The metal scene is not honest, I've again recently had private talks with various bands about the hypocrisy of aspects of it - and if you read this and think I'm lying, well get to know more people.

Having watched the video I think it sounds pretty decent actually. If I close my eyes I might not like certain modern aspects of the sound. Previously when commenting I hadn't been paying enough attention to the fact that there are no new compositions on this record, so in that way it isn't a new effort really, it doesn't tell me all that much - I know that sounds really negative but I can't be bothered expanding on it at the moment. Like I've said before I like a bunch of old Hell songs but they were never some ultimate band for me, like hardly any band is, but always found it funny how folks would rave. You know the obscurer the band the better they must be, guilty of that myself at time

I don't get the look of the band, and yes, it makes a difference. Very much in the vein of a Nucleat Blast or whatever bullshit modern crap etc. look in my eyes, all the excuses in the world won't change that.

[quietus]

Video great,song great.

[Stormspell]

Video great,song great.

+1

[HumanRemains]

And I mean the REAL fans.

You mean the ones that have been constantly mocking you, accusing you of selling out and tried to convince you NOT to record an album for the past couple of years?

If I'd been in Hell, I'd been pretty sick of a large portion of my "fans" by now.

+1, Mordred, and thankyou for that. Over the past months, I've posted on here several times, and to the best of my knowledge every post has been positive, immensely polite, deeply respectful and honest. That's the way I am. Most posts (including this one) have been entered for the same reasons, namely;

1 A bunch of guys post a criticism/concern, a question, a shedload of untruths/halftruths/complete nonsense based on no knowledge and little or no grasp of reality.

2 I post back to accept the criticism/concern on the chin and try to do something about it (= releasing the old material, for example), or to answer the question truthfully, or to set the record straight.

Every assurance I've ever made on here has come to fruition - 100%, no exceptions. Yet here I am doing the 'same shit, different day' routine all over again, and it's for the last time, because I've come to realise that no matter what I say and no matter how respectful, clear or honest I am, it will be misrepresented, misunderstood or twisted to meet agendas whose purpose I can only guess at.

For the record regarding festivals - read the post again about MUSKELROCK, and read Christian Lindell's reply post as well. Now - let me explain how the concept of festival/gig financial reality works. Example = A promoter offers HELL a festival and offers a fixed fee for it. We go online to the cheapo airlines, we do a quick calculation and figure that the cost of flying five bandmembers plus three crew plus excess baggage for keyboards, FX racks, guitars and other bits to country X is going to cost 4000 Euros. The fee for the gig is 1000 Euros. Now go figure - what would YOU do?

Similarly, when a promoter asks the band to commit to playing a show 18 months in the future, and offers a mid-afternoon billing just as their debut album is about to be released on a major label with wild, raving press comments about 'best metal album for 25 years' seemingly being the norm, it shouldn't surprise you when the band declines the offer for fear of what may lie around the corner - contractually, financially and logistically. It then doesn't help when the selfsame promoter elects to air private band/promoter-related matters in public, which I regard as unprofessional in the extreme, and which then elicits unfounded and grossly misinformed comments relating to poser/attitude/sellout and all the sad, predictable rest of it.

It's for reasons like these that I know I just can't win, and I will in future maintain a dignified silence. To those who have supported the band - thankyou as always, it's genuinely, genuinely appreciated.

Over and out.

Kev Bower
www.hell-metal.com

[lunaboy]

The fee for the gig is 1000 Euros. Now go figure - what would YOU do?

Solution .Cmon.People are too lazy and need so much comfort these days.It must end.

[Black Axe]

Similarly, when a promoter asks the band to commit to playing a show 18 months in the future, and offers a mid-afternoon billing just as their debut album is about to be released on a major label with wild, raving press comments about 'best metal album for 25 years' seemingly being the norm, it shouldn't surprise you when the band declines the offer for fear of what may lie around the corner - contractually, financially and logistically.

You can't just assume from comments (which IMO insult pretty much every metal band who released an album since 1985) that you'll become one of the best biggest metal bands in the world. I don't know if it was a 1 time offer or some such, but wouldn't it have been better for both parties just to give it some time and wait what actually happens after the album comes out before declining or even discussing a different deal?

[Oliver/KIT]

Kev,

what do you expect? Do you think you can headline or coheadline KIT only because you are on a major label and they are starting to promote it heavily? I never cared if a band is on a big or small label as long as I liked them. For 4000 Euros I can fly in a bigger band from overseas and I do not think underground festivals will be able to finance that for HELL, too. But maybe you are not interested in these small fests anyways. Despite that I had tons of british bands at my festivals (incl. Sabbat) and there never was a need for such a high sum. I think you should just get your feet back on the ground and rethink that for 99% of the metal scene you are a newcomer, cause besides us die hards nobody has ever heard of HELL. Good luck for the future!!

[andy sneap]

right this is going to be my one and only post here backing Kev up as I've been biting my tongue constantly over the last few months reading some of the comments on here.

1. Oliver, you should know better. I took you to be professional and all I'm seeing is you fueling this debate. Let me remind you of the last time Sabbat did a show for you.

Both times we have played, we have had to fly cheap, and I mean CHEAP. This means traveling from Stansted in the UK at 6am, which means leaving home at 3am, so thats a nights sleep lost right there. Due to the excellent service provided by Ryan air, we are then dropped off 3 and a half hrs from the show. Granted you pick us up and shuttle us to the gig, BUT, if HELL were to play the time slot you had allocated for the band, there's no way this would be possible, certainly with the setting up needed.

There's also the fact you are trying to book the band 18 months in advance just before the album comes out. Now, what happens if things do go well for the band and I'm not talking financially, I'm talking about touring and getting out there? Our profile will hopefully get higher than a mid afternoon slot but because this is agreed so far in advance what happens?

We told the label we wanted to wait and see what was going to happen before we confirm ANYTHING that far in advance, its YOU coming on here, saying we wont do this and that etc, We are just trying to be realistic and make a plans with agencies, promoters and be professional. Hey guess what, I enjoyed your festival, I love the crowd it attracts, Sabbat had a great time there and met some of the coolest characters but c'mon, if we say we can't afford it and we don't want to commit this far in advance, you should respect that, it is business at the end of the day and it is YOU who is bringing this up on a public forum.

I'd also like to remind you, last time we did a festival for you, you wouldn't even get someone to leave the building to sort out a backdrop pole for Onslaught and Sabbat. Also Sabbat and Crew ended up have to share beds in a F1 hotel (the cheapest portacabin hotel you will ever find across europe) because you'd cut corners booking hotel rooms.

Also, the other thing to stress, with my line of work, I have no idea knowing where I'll be on the face of the planet in April 2012, so if its not a string of gigs, alot of the time it doesn't make sense, and again this a reason for not committing to a one off gig this far in advance.

So hopefully you all realize we aren't trying to shun anyone, we'd never heard of the other Swedish festival until we'd been confirm for Rockstad, and it is standard practice with festivals to agree an exclusive performance. Infact its this festival that has allowed us to book more shows in Europe which will be announced in the next month. I would have quite liked to have got my Anthorlogy DVD signed, but we have a game plan for HELL, there's alot of time , effort and money invested in this and the guys have waited 28 years to get these songs heard. Pressing 250 on red vinyl, not seeing royalties and being forgotten about in 2 yrs is not an option.

Oliver, you have my contact details, I can discuss all the above with you privately if you wish.

Best wishes to everyone

Andy

[quietus]

I think we just need to remember that all this discussion is generated by the love for the band and the desire to hear all the stuff and see em live as soon as possible.

[MercyfulUngol]

I'm sure making the more beneficial decisions financially as opposed to playing more indy gigs from the start will allow us, in the long run to see the band many more times in the future than would be possible had they chose the latter.
After such a long ass time of waiting; being more than dormant, and having the misfortune of events that had befallen the band, I don't see how anyone here does not understand why they're playing it safe.
There is so much hostility over something that we all should be happy about. These guys have worked hard, and have come a long way, let them have their due. If you have the conceit to deem their actions selfish, go a little further and question, "What's wrong with that?". At the end of the day, they're normal dudes, with normal lives, trying to make ends meet.

[GJ]

Now let the music do the talking.

[The Sentinel]

The video posted looks and sounds very good. I'm not a big fan of reworked versions of old songs but the godlike songstructures do the talking here.

[omen of hate]

Now let the music do the talking.

+1 GJ. The voice of wisdom has spoken !

[Avenger]

And I mean the REAL fans.

You mean the ones that have been constantly mocking you, accusing you of selling out and tried to convince you NOT to record an album for the past couple of years?

If I'd been in Hell, I'd been pretty sick of a large portion of my "fans" by now.

Do the fans of the original material not have the right to be skeptical, especially granted the several delays in putting out any new material?

I personally don’t know what to think about the few "new" songs that I have heard so far. More time is needed for the stuff to sink in so that I can form an opinion.

[Avenger]

right this is going to be my one and only post here backing Kev up as I've been biting my tongue constantly over the last few months reading some of the comments on here.

1. Oliver, you should know better. I took you to be professional and all I'm seeing is you fueling this debate. Let me remind you of the last time Sabbat did a show for you.

Both times we have played, we have had to fly cheap, and I mean CHEAP. This means traveling from Stansted in the UK at 6am, which means leaving home at 3am, so thats a nights sleep lost right there. Due to the excellent service provided by Ryan air, we are then dropped off 3 and a half hrs from the show. Granted you pick us up and shuttle us to the gig, BUT, if HELL were to play the time slot you had allocated for the band, there's no way this would be possible, certainly with the setting up needed.

There's also the fact you are trying to book the band 18 months in advance just before the album comes out. Now, what happens if things do go well for the band and I'm not talking financially, I'm talking about touring and getting out there? Our profile will hopefully get higher than a mid afternoon slot but because this is agreed so far in advance what happens?

We told the label we wanted to wait and see what was going to happen before we confirm ANYTHING that far in advance, its YOU coming on here, saying we wont do this and that etc, We are just trying to be realistic and make a plans with agencies, promoters and be professional. Hey guess what, I enjoyed your festival, I love the crowd it attracts, Sabbat had a great time there and met some of the coolest characters but c'mon, if we say we can't afford it and we don't want to commit this far in advance, you should respect that, it is business at the end of the day and it is YOU who is bringing this up on a public forum.

I'd also like to remind you, last time we did a festival for you, you wouldn't even get someone to leave the building to sort out a backdrop pole for Onslaught and Sabbat. Also Sabbat and Crew ended up have to share beds in a F1 hotel (the cheapest portacabin hotel you will ever find across europe) because you'd cut corners booking hotel rooms.

Also, the other thing to stress, with my line of work, I have no idea knowing where I'll be on the face of the planet in April 2012, so if its not a string of gigs, alot of the time it doesn't make sense, and again this a reason for not committing to a one off gig this far in advance.

So hopefully you all realize we aren't trying to shun anyone, we'd never heard of the other Swedish festival until we'd been confirm for Rockstad, and it is standard practice with festivals to agree an exclusive performance. Infact its this festival that has allowed us to book more shows in Europe which will be announced in the next month. I would have quite liked to have got my Anthorlogy DVD signed, but we have a game plan for HELL, there's alot of time , effort and money invested in this and the guys have waited 28 years to get these songs heard. Pressing 250 on red vinyl, not seeing royalties and being forgotten about in 2 yrs is not an option.

Oliver, you have my contact details, I can discuss all the above with you privately if you wish.

Best wishes to everyone

Andy

Since when are festivals played so that you can live a life of luxury?