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The band is made up of guitarist Jed Simon (Tenet, SYL), bassist Byron Stroud (Fear Factory, SYL) and the legendary Gene Hogland (SYL, Dark Angel, Death, Dethklok) on drums, with “The Heathen” as the vocalist. That’s Satan himself. The music is much in the same breed of Strapping Young Lad. The reasons should be obvious.
Very thrash oriented compositions, with death metal elements that give the music an extra charge every so often. There are some classic riffs and drum beats throw into the mix as well. Fist pumping metal, if you will.
Extreme vocals are at the helm, sometimes with a death grimace or an aggressive and volatile singing approach. Whatever you call it, it’s far from tranquil or the norm, which is good in this case.
Adding to the mystique known as Zimmers Hole, there is a special guest on the disc. Nathan Explosion from Dethklok makes an appearance with a special public announcement on literacy. Though he may need to take his own advice on the topic. It’s quite entertaining, and is much in the vein of the show Metalocalypse.
Zimmers Hole seem to be in tune with each other, as they sound tight group. 11 tracks and 40 minutes for fans of Strapping Young Lad, The Devin Townsend Band, Dethklok and maybe bands like Scatterbrain and Faith No More.
Rating: 85
Reviewed By: Jeffrey D. Adkins
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The opening track 'When You Were Shouting At the Devil', is mind-blowing, there is no other word for it. There wasn't anything about this song that I didn't like. The intro was intense and reminded me once again of what an amazing drummer Mr Hoglan really is. This song is aimed to offend each and every glam metal fan on the face of the planet and even more specific Motley Crue fans and even though I love glam metal I'm also a lover of the real heavy stuff and could see where the band were coming from when they wrote this one! "Exodus was fuckin right, all the posers must die"! This is just one of many killer lines on the opening track. 'When You Were Shouting At the Devil' is a song for those of you who love your metal hard, heavy and fast. To me this track was easily the best to open the album with, one of the most memorable and one of my favourites.
Through-out the album there are moments where I could pin-point other bands influence on certain songs, this was really clear to me in the second track 'We Rule The Fucking Land' firstly the blood curdling scream let out by The Heathen reminded me The Sweet classic 'Ballroom Blitz', musically as the intro rocked on I was reminded of early Metallica this was only further enforced by the lyrics "Die by my hand" throughout the song. This is another one of the tracks that I really do love and can't help but headbang along to every time the song comes on! By the end of this track you will find yourself singing along raising one fist to the metal gods!
Overall, the latest Zimmers Hole album should be in every metal fans collection no matter how old you are. 'When You Were Shouting At the Devil' is nothing short of a timeless classic metal masterpiece that is one of only a few albums that has impressed me thus far this year! Musically this album offers everything you would expect from the all-star line-up who plays as well as more. This album pushes all the boundaries to their limits and still leaves you wanting more! Stand out tracks on the album for me included 'When You Were Shouting At The Devil', 'Alright', 'Flight Of The Night Bat', 'We Rule The Fucking Land', 'Devils Mouth' and 'The Vowel Song' which features Nathan Explosion of Dethklok. 'The Vowel Song' is nothing short of hilarious, entertaining and rockin, trust me you will love it!
Rating: 90
Reviewed By: Cameron Edney - http://www.myspace.com/insideout666ints