It's now time for our 196th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and as we continue combing through our current backlog of new album releases, we're looking at local crossover thrash/skate punk quartet Hails' self-titled full length album! Independently released on June 28th, this is the sophomore release from Ha!ls, coming almost two years after their debut EP "Rock And Rolls" came out. Returning from that EP are veteran local punk singer/bassist Brenton "B.G." Ellis alongside Agnosticism frontman Mikhal Muto on guitar and his old Vanity First bandmate Keegan McAllister on drums, while Mikhal's cousin Carmen Muto makes his studio debut with Hails here as their second guitarist. While not confirmed in public postings, Golden Scoundrels/ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno guests as a backing vocalist on tracks 1, 6, and 7 here. I don't have firm public information on the album's recording location and production credits, which may be exclusive to physical copies.
Note that Brent provides the artwork for the albums of bands that he fronts, and CD (and cassette) copies can have wildly different designs from digital postings as such, but at last word in July, they were still working on getting physical copies made at that point on multiple formats. You can stream "Hails" on Bandcamp, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Boomplay, and Qobuz. If you want to actually buy the new album as an mp3 download, iTunes will hook you up for $9.99, though the Bandcamp download cost jumps up to $20. Similarly to how "Thrashmastertenbillion" and "Down For Life" on the prior EP were carryovers from Brenton's sporadically seen acoustic project Slumshine, three song titles on the "Hails" full-length began life there, and this time, I will compare how they sound with and without the full electric band, let alone his pink knit ski mask. With thirteen songs running for about 40 minutes, let's begin this month's album review with its opening track, "The Lost Cosmonaut"!
Lyrically seeming to take inspiration from drug addiction recovery, this song isn't quite as relentless as the opener but it has a catchy riff and good vocal effects to push it along nicely, and the instrumentation is balanced well to keep things soaring through the pink clouds while still ticking the heavy boxes! Good stuff early, but I can definitely see the Slumshine song of this name tacked on as an intro. Third on the album is "All Systems Go", which is basically about preparing for a distant space voyage. The fastest and heaviest song yet, this will be guaranteed to incite mosh pits in concert with its tight performances, aggressive pace, and Brent's clearest and most direct vocals yet. I'd have lengthened this one a bit with more of a guitar solo and a less abrupt ending, but if you want a hard hitting thrashy metal song, this leans the most into that on this already heavy album so far! Fourth up is the short original "Peter Pandemic".
With shorter and more cryptic lyrics about travelling the world feeding off of lesser souls, this leans more into a grindcore and punk influences with its shorter and grimier pace, including more erratic guitar work and pounding drums from Keegan, It gets the job done with brutality, and shows more of Ha!ls' range, but myself, I do prefer their more technical and metal-inspired material. Fifth is "Reversible Strait Jacket", which again shares a title with a Slumshine song, this time one that appears exclusively on cassette copies of "Slumlord", leading off the eponymous side B of the tapes. My review came before I knew about the tape's exclusive songs, but I did listen to it prior to this review, and while the Hails song of this name is closer sonically to Slumshine's than "Pink Clouds..." was, they are distinct songs with distinct lyrics, this time about going insane while working for a living. The Hails song is fuller with better production and a solid (if too brief) guitar solo late, and the ferocity and metal lean is back here!
I still have to technically review side B of "Slumlord" at some point, but I like Ha!ls' "Reversible Strait Jacket" more regardless! The album's longest song is next, namely "Ghosts", whose motivational lyrics reflect persevering over hungry ghosts of your past. I don't know whether that's Mikhal or Carmen playing the Spanish guitar-influenced introduction, but it's certainly unique as local bands go! A more punk-inspired song compared to what's around it on the album, "Ghosts" would not sound out of place at all on Go Skate Day with it's lively pace and attitude, and Josh's backing vocals add some grit as well! Brent's vocal clarity isn't super high here, but I like the added melodies and solid bass here, including a fun bridge-into-solo late, so fans of early Hails will appreciate the punk styles and enthusiasm here! I'm not sure that the intro really fits though, as well played as it was.
"Dawn Of The Dead" follows to end the album's first half, and whose lyrics obviously take inspiration from the title movie, if not a zombie invasion in general. This one takes us back to crossover thrash territory with a blistering pace and anguished screamed vocals from Brent, and while I definitely dig the heavy brutality on offer, the instruments are somewhat muddled together in the mix aside from some quality guitar soloing at the start, and I'd have packed in some more verses and stretched things out a little longer. If you like your Ha!ls to rip it hard, fast, and now, you'll be into it! Next is "Sole Crusher", and while the spelling is accurate, the lyrics do seem to reflect the soul more than soles, specifically persevering through an untenable routine and aspiring for better. Musically, this doesn't reinvent the wheel from their heavier and thrashier earlier songs, but that works for their approach!
I liked the guitar solo, if somewhat too layered into the production, and the vocals and percussion suit the in-your-face structure nicely, so if you like what you've heard so far, you'll like this! We next get "Serf City" (again, the spelling is correct), which is about the struggles that many every day people face, and the help they need but often don't get. The lyrics again aren't super clear in how they're delivered and produced, but it's another ferocious original song with a good fast pace and nice galloping guitar riffs, and Keegan's drumming is never better than it is here! The bridge takes things into doom metal territory, which I wasn't expecting, and Brent's singing is even AlgomA-reminiscent during it, which would be neat to see them apply on a full song in the future. I'd have liked a guitar solo, but solid stuff for fans overall! Tenth on the album is "The Drifter", whose lyrics are somewhat open to interpretation.
We (not one single drifter) are clearly walking somewhere, but is it about a military march, in a dystopian land, or just general survival? Like "Ghosts", this leans more to punk rock than much of it's album-mates, with Brent singing the verses moreso than on prior tracks even. Maybe not lyrically, but I was reminded a bit of NOFX at points! Another tight skate punk number that delivers the goods for genre fans, especially those more familiar with Brent's earlier punk projects, so don't bypass this one! "Ha!ls" continues with "Such Desperate Joy", which is the third song here that made me think of perseverance, this time moving forward through trauma and not letting it stop your goals. Here, this reminds me more of an old school hardcore punk song, and I like how the bass sounds in it in particular, but for what I go for, it's a little too relentless without catchy melodies until the late guitar solo.
Definitely a fun and hard hitting song, but earlier tracks struck the balance for aggression and melody better to me. Up next is "BiPolaris", the third and final song title that was previously used by Slumshine on "Slumlord", but unlike the prior two examples, the lyrics are largely carried over, though with minor alterations. The original song was played as a solo acoustic folk punk number, but in Hails' hands, it's a blistering crossover thrash piece with screamed vocals, and it's much shorter, running for an album-low 97 seconds in length. If you didn't know the lyrics going in, you'd see no shared DNA whatsoever, but Ha!ls' "BiPolaris" is an intense track that doesn't let up and gets in and out without overstaying its welcome. Usually, I'd say it's too short, but it says everything it needs to while it's going, and it's a late highlight! The album closes with "Crustal Displacement", which feels like a companion to "Pink Clouds Of Density"
Like on that song, this has raw and personal lyrics about mental health and addiction recovery. If you discount the Spanish guitar intro of "Ghosts", this is the longest true song here, and it packs in more of Ha!ls' tried and tested crossover thrash sound with solidly aggressive vocals and strong guitar riffs from the Muto cousins, and some nice scratchy bass from Brent, plus one of the album's better guitar solos, so this is a fine way to end the album!
Overall, I definitely prefer Hails' self-titled full length album to "Rock And Rolls", and if you've appreciated how heavy and thrashy their music has (mostly) gotten into the mid-2020s, you should agree! Their prior EP was definitely more based around skate punk, which we still get glimmers of on "Ghosts" & "The Drifer", but they acquit themselves very well to crossover thrash and speed metal here, even with some grind flourishes, and perhaps adding Carmen Muto (who I believe is just 15 years old) helped in beefing up their sound in this way! I can't be 100% sure who played what solo, but Carmen is beyond skilled for his age, and he is a key addition to the band! The production quality is largely good, and everyone performs well without seeming out of place, with Keegan delivering some of his best drumming yet, but I would have liked longer solos and some more distinct mixing.
A common thing I noticed is that Brent's singing wasn't often clear in terms of discerning the lyrics (good thing they're posted on Bandcamp!), which was also an issue on "Rock And Rolls", but not all of the prior bands he fronted, like Detroit and Maximum RNR. Regardless, this is a killer album for fans of hardcore punk and thrash (master ten billion or otherwise), and definitely buy or stream Hails' new album at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's album review, and next month, the crossover thrash train rolls on when we look at local/Barrie quintet Spades GT's new album "United"! Stay tuned for that in November and for more this week! Thanks everyone!
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