Swedish lounge-metal act Hellsongs will release their album "Songs in the key of 666" on June 27 throughout GAS. Expect tourdates to follow.

The Deer Tracks (ft. members from Leiah, Ariel Kill Him and Twiggy Frostbite) have broken free of their contract with Finnish label Next Big Thing and are now signed to Despotz Records (Kaka, Hellsongs) in Sweden. Look for their debut album "Aurora" to be released on August 27.

Swedish lounge-metal act Hellsongs is now working with Bodog Music Group for a international release of their debut album "Songs in the key of 666". It will be out in Europe this summer with the rest of the world to follow in fall.

Swedish lounge-metal act Hellsongs have licensed their album "Hymns in the key of 666" for release in Japan on May 26 via Village Again Records.

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Neverstore - Heroes wanted
02. Tomas Andersson Wij - En sommar på speed
03. Fernandoz - Anders & Git - En helt ny dag
04. Carola - Främling 25 år
05. The Cardigans - Best of
06. Lykke Li - Youth novels
07. Takida - Bury the lies
08. Kent - Tillbaka till samtiden
09. Lars Winnerbäck - Daugava
10. Majornas 3dje Rote - Majornas 3dje Rote med Tomas von Brömssen
11. Within Y - The cult
12. Kikki Danielsson - Kikkis bästa
14. Jill Johnson - Music Row
15. Hellsongs - Hymns in the key of 666
16. Sahara Hotnights - What if leaving is a loving thing
17. El Perro Del Mar - From the valley to the stars
18. Pacific! - Reveries
19. Sara Isaksson & Anders Widmark - Pool of happiness
20. Säkert! - Säkert!

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Carola - Främling 25 år
02. Fernandoz - Anders & Git - En helt ny dag
03. Jill Johnson - Music Row
04. Hellsongs - Hymns in the key of 666
05. The Cardigans - Best of
06. Lykke Li - Youth novels
07. Lars Winnerbäck - Daugava
08. Kent - Tillbaka till samtiden
09. Alf Robertson - Alf Robertsons bästa
10. Sahara Hotnights - What if leaving is a loving thing
11. Marie Picasso - The secret
12. Sara Isaksson & Anders Widmark - Pool of happiness
14. Takida - Bury the lies
15. Säkert! - Säkert!
16. Sofia Karlsson - Visor från vinden
17. Andra Generationen - Extra allt
18. Nanne - Jag måste kyssa dig
19. Louise Hoffsten - Så speciell
20. Hoffmaestro & Chraa - The storm

Swedish lounge-metal act Hellsongs has confirmed their debut full-length "Hymns in the key of 666" will be released on February 20. Look for details concerning release parties in Stockholm and Göteborg to be announced soon.

Festival report: Arvika

The new Hellsongs single "Symphony of destruction" (Megadeth) is up on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hellsongs

Lounge-metal act Hellsongs will be unleashing "Symphony of destruction" (Megadeth) as their next single. A free download should be online shortly.

Hellsongs
Lounge
Lovely Records

This is painful. I thought it would be cool, but this is barely more enjoyable than Richard Cheese and I hate that guy. Hellsongs covers metal songs in a pop, acoustic and orchestral way in order to bring them to new light. The problem is that those songs were written to evoke a powerful and aggressive emotional response and trying to make people cry with a Regina Spektor-like arrangement and voice is not actually working most of the time. I'll admit as much that "Seek and destroy" actually works, but would work better if it wasn't 16 minutes long and Iron Maiden's "Run to the hills" also does work; the rest is just very hard to listen to. The novelty is fun for just about 2 minutes, after that it's just torture.
- Simon Thibaudeau

MP3: Hellsongs - Seek & destroy

I have very conflicted feelings about Hellsongs. On one hand, I can't help but love their stripped-down, loungified takes on metal classics. But on the other hand, I hate it when people think that metal is only approachable from an ironic standpoint. Dammit people, there is no shame is liking metal. Metal rules, okay? We all know that Manowar is silly, but they are still awesome. Either you get it or you don't. Now I'm not exactly sure what the motivation is for the folks behind Hellsongs, but I suppose I should assume them to be pure-hearted unless proven otherwise. Their lazy, organ-driven take on Metallica's "Seek & destroy" is just too good to think otherwise. Please! Don't let me be wrong! Forget about Mark Kozelek and his lame acoustic AC/DC covers - that stuff was pure novelty and the charm wore off after a few listens. When the original songs are good, it doesn't take much to make them work sans distortion. Being said, some of the selections from Hellsongs' "Lounge" EP work better than others. Iron Maiden ("Run to the hills"), Black Sabbath ("Paranoid") and the aforementioned Metallica track (posted today for your enjoyment) are all top quality. Motörhead ("Orgasmatron") and Judas Priest ("Breaking the law") are a tad less good, but still decent. My wife comments: "They don't sound like they could break the law, they sound like they can barely get off the couch." As for Van Halen's "Jump"? Hmmmm, no thanks. Diamond Dave is the only reason the original is any good at all and without him, there's little left that's appealing. All in all, a fun EP - as for the future, a little Hellsongs goes a long way, so let's hope that they don't overdo it.

Hellsongs - Seek & destroy

Check out the Decoder Podcast for some new Hellsongs tracks and some other Scandinavian music gems such as Silverbullit, Stina Nordenstam and Jmyhaze Beatbox: http://decoder-radio.podspot.de/post/podcast-hellsongs/