Review: The Violent Hour – The Violent Hour

Megaforce Records (July 25^th, 2025)

Reviewer – Jason Hopper

The Violent Hour is a solo EP from ex-Butcher Babies vocalist Carla Harvey. After fronting her former band for 15 years, Carla has decided to branch out on her own. She got together with boyfriend Charlie Benante (of Anthrax fame) to create material that hits different genres.  While what they come up with is impressive, I was more impressed by the abilities of Mr. Benante. Along with co-writing, Charlie plays drums, guitars, bass, and handled production duties, creating an EP that sounds top tier.

What I love about this EP is how every song touches upon a different genre. The closest the album gets to a Butcher Babies/Anthrax feel is ‘Sick Ones’, the powerfully energetic punk-tinged opener. The highlight for me is the chorus. The way Carla spaces out the wording, emphasizing each word over the frenetic melody, is a winning formula. The middle bridge before the solo slows down the tempo while amping up the aggression, with a callback to Carla’s Butcher Babies days with her guttural vocals and a tempo change up very reminiscent of what Anthrax would do. Lead guitars on this track are credited to John 5, so the shredding is on point. This track has a lot going for it and is my personal favorite.

If you think you know the direction this EP will take, you will be surprised by the next track. ‘Hell or Hollywood’ has a melody that would not be dissimilar from something LA Guns would write, with a sound that is right up my alley. Imagine my surprise to find the legendary Zakk Wylde playing lead guitar on this track. His guitar and outro solo, and distinct string squeals, are executed perfectly. Quite distinct from the first track and equally as strong, most will gravitate towards this as their favorite. I Would love to hear more tracks like this from her in the future.

‘Portland Oregon’ goes for a southern blues feel with the requisite slide guitar and assistance from Crobot singer Brandon Yeagley on co-lead. Mid-tempo rock that sounds derivative of several other bands but done well. The real surprise is Carla taking on a genre that is outside of her niche and giving a solid performance.

‘Sex and Cigarettes’ has a modern rock feel not too dissimilar to bands like Halestorm and artists like Dorothy. I am surprised this has not been released as a single as of this writing. This is exactly the type of music that modern rock stations on Sirius/XM would be adding onto their playlist. It checks all the right boxes. While modern US rock is a bit hit or miss with me, this track is a fun ditty and has a good hook.

Finally, I did not expect the title track and name of the band to start out as an acoustic based ballad.  Carla sounds both angelic, melancholic and angry as it builds in power to the chorus.  Once it arrives, Carla lets it all out with various vocal inflections that showcase her range. She sounds great but for me this is their weakest track. The song is meandering without a strong hook.  Powerful for sure, but unfocused. It’s almost like Carla and Charlie wrote a poem and put it to song. Written poems and written songs are two different approaches to artistic expression.  It has beautiful imagery but is conveyed in a format that does not do the words justice, if that makes sense. 

This EP was quite a surprise, especially regarding Mr. Benante’s capabilities. His collaboration with Carla here showcase both artists in a way that no one has seen before and there’s a magic here that certainly should be explored in a full-on release. According to Wikipedia, Carla recently joined Lords of Acid. It’s not uncommon for many artists today to join several bands (Charlie is currently the drummer for both Anthrax and Pantera) but I am hoping this does not derail the possibility of this project going forward. They should be proud of what they created here, which is mostly outside of the sub-genres they are both known for. Certainly check this out and I would love to see a full album from them in the near future.                                        

Track list:

1. Sick Ones
2. Hell Or Hollywood
3. Portland Oregon
4. Sex and Cigarettes
5. The Violent Hour

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