Review: Hell’s Addiction – 9 O’Clock Horses

Weapon Records / Vanity Music Group (November 17^th 2023)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

Hailing from Leicester UK, Hell’s Addiction are back at it with their third album, ‘9 O’Clock Horses’.  For those not familiar with the band, they have an organic late 80s hard rock sound minus the flashiness of the era, similar to bands like Tesla or Skid Row. Their singer has a modern earthiness to his voice, with a Nathan James-like style. This makes for a decent mix of past and present rock styles.

With this being my first exposure to the band, I will not compare it to any previous releases. What I will mention is the song that drew me to the band. ‘Upside Down’ is the band’s attempt to gain the exposure that Kate Bush and Metallica recently received from the Netflix show Stranger Things. I am a fan of the show and the tune references one of the main plot points.  They went so far are to get permission from Netflix to incorporate lines from the show into the song. I guess we’ll find out in a year or two whether it pays off for them and it is utilized for the show. Regardless, it’s a very good mid-tempo track with some great singing/screaming from lead singer Ben Sargent.

Other great tracks include opener ‘Leave It Alone’, a rocker that gets the ball rolling and showcases the band’s specialty, heavy blues-based grooves that kick the doors in. ‘Run for Your Life’ has a great build up to the chorus that makes great use of background scream vocals to accent the chorus. Closer ‘Cannot Hide’ has a solid, late 80s LA Guns/Great White vibe and is the very definition of blues-based hard rock.

Some tracks could have been better. First single ‘Scream Your Name’ has a pleasant melody but a basic, flat chorus. The singer is capable of a higher register, which is underutilized at times, and this is a perfect example. How do you have a song called ‘Scream Your Name’ and make the choice to maintain the same vocal register throughout the entire song? The chorus would have been the time to kick things up a notch. Yes, he does let out some higher register screams, but they’re tame compared to the urgency in the lyrics. The aforementioned ‘Run for Your Life’ does a better job showcasing what the band should have done with the chorus in this song.

‘Your Master Plan’ and ‘Love’ have two different rhythms but similar song structures, a slow build up to a full band bombast. It takes so long to get interesting as both songs are two thirds over by the time it picks up steam, so for me that a detraction. It would be better if the quieter parts offered something interesting, but they do not. ‘Crying Over You’ has some interesting parts with two different rhythm exchanges but a flat chorus that fails to excite.

There are some great songs here, but not a full album’s worth. I would have liked to hear more of a variety from singer Ben Sargent. I dig his upper register and wish he would have utilized that more on select songs. I suggest checking this album out online and cherry-picking select songs based on personal taste. There’s something for everyone but quantities may vary.

Tracklist:

1. Leave It Alone
2. Upside Down
3. Scream Your Name
4. Run for Your Life
5. Crying Over Me
6. Your Master Plan
7. Save Me
8. Give Me a Sign
9. Love
10. Playing Chicken with a Knife
11. Stare into the Sun
12. Cannot Hide