Sup everybody! August is right here and it’s a really particular time of the 12 months for me. Last time, I lastly received to speak about certainly one of my favorite genres and the sound of my childhood – nu metallic! I sincerely hope you loved studying that one since I actually cherished making it. So going off of that, I’ve determined to current you this time with an in depth entry in regards to the final band talked about in that weblog and one which holds a particular place in my coronary heart. A band I’ve been following since they began from nothing and one I’m a large fan of to this present day. So get your masks on, look ahead to the Dove and Grenade and let’s dive proper in. Welcome to some of the sonically unpredictable bands ever, the voices of Los Angeles, the timeless social gathering animals of Hollywood Undead!
Hollywood Undead can hint their origins again to 2005 and a bunch of school pals in LA as a technique of mixing their hip-hop upbringing with their love for rock and metallic. The story goes that when the band was being shaped, whoever was within the room and will play an instrument grew to become a member. After some changes, this left us with J-Dog, Charlie Scene, Johnny 3 Tears, Funny Man, Deuce and Da Kurlzz (+the quick lived tenure of the elusive Shady Jeff). They would share varied devices and all would contribute various vocals to the tracks too. Their sound was a fusion of hip-hop and metallic, closely influenced by the aforementioned nu metallic sound which was nonetheless going sturdy on the time. HU nonetheless differentiated themselves from others like Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit by their selection and uniqueness. While most rap metallic bands would have a really established sound, HU would range from pure hip-hop, to extra digital tracks to full metallic bangers. The selection was additional enhanced by the variety of vocalists, every contributing a unique method and sound, mixing rapping, clear singing, screams, growls and extra. Combine this with their distinctive appearances, every sporting a singular and recognizable masks a la Slipknot or Mushroomhead and you’ve got a recipe for fulfillment. They first began gaining traction on the then-newly created YouTube and MySpace (rattling, keep in mind that?), sharing their songs round and leaving a powerful impression with their energetic music movies. Slowly however certainly, they made a reputation for themselves.
HU would make their first splash with their bombastic debut Swan Songs dropping in 2008. This is the band at their purest and most unfiltered. The sound is considerably crude however the tunes are loud, highly effective and ridiculously catchy. The lyrics are vulgar however enjoyable. You can genuinely really feel the power of a bunch of school pals goofing round making the music they love with none limitations. What stands out is the number of sound and tone. The songs can rage from pure hip-hop zingers like Everywhere I Go, to anthemic exhausting rock like Sell Your Soul and slamming metallic tracks just like the bands crowning tune Undead. It can go from enjoyable social gathering tracks like California and Bottle and a Gun to darkish and somber love poems like Black Dahlia or This Love, This Hate. This album has just a little little bit of every thing, which makes it totally satisfying on a floor degree however the brutal honesty and real ardour that radiates from each track makes it really feel actually particular. Hollywood Undead had arrived and so they have been right here to make an announcement!
As they began to realize traction, they dropped the Desperate Measures dwell album only a 12 months later, clearly cementing themselves as an iconic dwell act, combining one of the best elements of a metallic live performance and a hip-hop present one thing that will solely get higher to this present day! This album additionally comprises some hitherto unreleased materials that’s simply nearly as good because the earlier!
There was some turbulence after this second and sadly this could result in founding member Deuce leaving, however we’ll get again to him later. In the meantime, a recent new face confirmed up and would slot proper into the gang – the angel voiced Danny, would contribute primarily together with his unbelievable clear singing and would develop into an inseparable a part of the HU sound. With him in tow, the band would drop their subsequent batch of bangers known as American Tragedy in 2011. Exhibiting extra of the identical, but additionally an evolution, the metallic tracks like Been to Hell and Hear Me Now have been heavier and extra epic than ever whereas the social gathering songs like Comin’ In Hot have been as spicy and uplifting as ever. In the midst you can too discover loads of emotional declarations like Pour Me or I Don’t Wanna Die that basically tug on the heartstrings. The standout monitor needs to be Bullet although, which when it comes to sound is an acoustic rock track with rapping over it that will match proper right into a automotive business, however this bubbly upbeat sound is contrasted masterfully with the extremely darkish lyrics. It’s a masterclass of what HU can do and this new and improved model of the band was on a transparent roll and destined for greatness.
Just two years later, their subsequent opus would arrive within the type of Notes from The Underground. Delivering on the now established sound of the band, that is an additional emotional report that leans extra on the intense finish of issues and is extra metallic targeted that earlier albums, however nonetheless doesn’t move up the chance to social gathering exhausting. It feels identical to its title suggests, a peek into the lives of the individuals dwelling away from the limelight, the individuals within the shadows of society. It’s the anthem of the forgotten and the misunderstood. It’s an trustworthy and finely crafted album that seems like the comfortable hug of a detailed buddy which you could inform something to. Or at the least that’s how I really feel about it.
By now a little bit of a established order was starting to type and with a band flourishing due to unpredictability, we will’t have that! So it was time to shake issues up with their most various and distinctive album thus far – Day of the Dead launched in 2015. This one virtually feels prefer it recaptures the sensation we received again on Swan Songs of a really distinctive band that feels like nothing else on the planet. This is what a band gave the impression of after they put zero artistic limitations on themselves. You received headbanging metallic just like the title monitor. You received hip-hop bangers like How We Roll. You received membership shakers like Party By Myself. You received the trademark brutal honesty like on Live Forever. But if all that weren’t sufficient, you even have the EDM hit War Child that no one might have anticipated to be the social gathering anthem of a era. Or Usual Suspects, a one-of-a-kind monitor fusing a ton of genres that stands as among the best alliances of metallic and dubstep ever produced and one of many final embers of the golden age of dubstep earlier than the style retreated again into the underground. Day of the Dead represents every thing there may be to like about Hollywood Undead and exhibits that it is a band overflowing with concepts and by no means shy of charting new floor.
The final a number of albums have been all huge successes and HU have been on prime of the world. Unfortunately, the celebrity did include a little bit of pressure, resulting in Da Kurlzz sadly departing from the band. Now decreased to a five-piece and shutting in on album No. 5, the band have been up in opposition to the ropes. Or have been they? Turns out, stated ropes solely allow them to bounce again tougher than ever, dropping the long-lasting V in 2017. Exceeding all expectations, this album is a celebration of every thing superior about this band. It has among the heaviest and moshpit worthy songs ever, like California Dreaming and Renegade. It has among the most scrumptious rap rock blends ever like Whatever it Takes and Bad Moon. It celebrates oldschool West Coast hip-hop with sick tracks like Cashed Out and Black Cadillac. It even retains up the custom of EDM membership classics with Riot. Like, in what universe are these songs all on the identical report? The Undead universe, that’s the place! HU have been on prime of their recreation right here and delivered arguably their greatest album thus far. Banger after banger after banger. It’s additionally the proper illustration of what makes their data so enjoyable – they’re so artistic and open-minded that listening to this for the primary time is nearly like playing. You do not know what the following monitor will convey to the desk, all you realize is that it will likely be superior! Pressure could make issues crumble into mud however it could additionally type diamonds and that is positively a case of the latter.
Seemingly on a by no means ending roll, using an even bigger and larger wave, HU have been simply not slowing down! A couple of years after their masterclass album, they might come again with much more recent concepts. The latest report would drop in February 2020 and could be titled New Empire Vol. 1. The band had proven on social media within the interim years that they’d gotten themselves some 7-string guitars and these positively got here in useful right here, as this album has among the heaviest and nastiest riffs ever heard in a HU track, leaning even into djent or deathcore. Legendary session drummer Luke Holland positively helped with this heavy sound. The lyrics are additionally largely critical and brooding. The entire album is nearly fully metal-focused with barely any hip-hop and stored the fireplace sizzling from starting to finish, showcasing an entire new dimension of what the band can sound like. However, I had a suspicion that these lads wouldn’t neglect their hip-hop roots identical to that and provided that the album was known as Vol. 1, I made the prediction then that Vol. 2 could be virtually fully hip-hop as a substitute, balancing out the deal.
Lo and behold, I used to be proper on the cash as New Empire Vol. 2 smacked us in December of the identical 12 months. With bountiful options from quite a lot of fashionable artists from every kind of genres (most notably my favorite rapper of all time, Tech N9ne), this album may be very rap heavy and is extra social gathering oriented and enjoyable in comparison with its angsty and edgy predecessor. These two albums are an ideal illustration of the contrasting elements of HU’s sound and the way these juxtaposed parts can nonetheless dwell harmoniously in the identical discography. This one-two punch combo of banger albums positively made the isolation years so much simpler to tolerate.
Never glad and by no means drained, HU would return triumphantly simply two years later and drop their as of now newest opus – 2022’s Hotel Kalifornia. This is a report that exhibits not simply maturity and expertise however how comfy the band are in their very own weirdness. They absolutely embrace their genre-defying sound and current one of the best of what followers have come to count on. They additionally by no means cease innovating and experimenting, including much more wrinkles to their musical arsenal like parts of other rock, pop punk, lure and extra. The varied members additionally step out of their consolation zones and discover many ranging vocal types which are noticeably totally different from their ordinary forte. The finish result’s an unbelievable mix of each mainstream enchantment and unfiltered experimentation and free expression, all of it filled with palpable ardour. The songs cowl the total spectrum of sound from pumping metallic by membership banger electro to gangsta rap and every thing in between. On prime of that, the lyrics additionally cowl the total vary of tones and feelings, from coronary heart touching to bottle poppin’. It’s one thing for everybody. All I can say is, to everybody from Rockstar Games, if Wild In These Streets isn’t on the GTA 6 radio stations, don’t even hassle releasing it.
In amongst all their banger albums, HU have additionally unleashed a ton of non-album singles, EPs and bonus tracks. I didn’t know the place to place them, so right here they’re. Loads of these are equally as iconic and don’t let up in high quality in comparison with the remaining. It’s actually extra of the identical goodness and I’m all for it.
I all the time wish to cowl aspect tasks in these band blogs, so right here we go. Remember OG member Deuce? Well, after his departure in 2010, he has launched into his personal solo profession. While he hasn’t had the bombastic international success that his band have, he has positively achieved properly for himself. His musical type can be similar to the output of HU whereas nonetheless being distinct and totally different sufficient so if you happen to take pleasure in HU’s materials, then Deuce’s work needs to be proper up your alley as properly.
Thus, we arrive on the grand finale of this Undead journey. I hope I managed to point out you throughout this weblog how a lot this band means to me. I found Hollywood Undead on the web again in 2007-2008 after they have been nonetheless comparatively unknown and nonetheless attempting to make an affect. I’ve noticed their progress and progress ever since and I’ve been intently following them for years and years. I joined the net fanbase discussing the lyrics and their favorite members (mine are Funny Man and J3T for anybody questioning). For each album launch, I used to be there and I used to be teeming with pleasure. No home social gathering I ever attend goes by with out their music being blasted. I’ve 100% attendance at their exhibits in Bulgaria. I even ran a Hollywood Undead Facebook fan web page at one level. HU and I’ve grown up collectively and whereas each of us are very totally different from who we have been all these years in the past, we stayed true to ourselves and the shared love has by no means waned.
Let me let you know, watching them develop into so profitable and broadly beloved is so fantastic to see. It’s wonderful that I might be across the tens of millions of followers they’ve now and confidently say I used to be one of many OGs. When lots of bands attain this degree of mainstream success, they both fold beneath the stress and commercialize their sound, shedding the core that made them distinctive or they struggle repeatedly to recapture the magic of their early albums however fail and must depend on previous hits to remain related. Or worst of all, they is perhaps unable to bear the stress of fame and simply stop altogether. Hollywood Undead are among the many uncommon examples the place none of that occurred. Eight albums in and there isn’t a single dud between them. They’ve solely grown increasingly more and present no indicators of slowing down. Through their bountiful creativity and open minded method, they’ve managed to evolve and broaden their sound, permitting them to tug from varied audiences, whereas nonetheless retaining the core elements that made them particular from day one. Next 12 months, they are going to be celebrating 20 years on stage and their success present no indicators of slowing down. They additionally appear to be having enjoyable too, which is nice to see. So right here’s to twenty extra years of rockin’ rappin’ events after which 20 extra years after that. This love won’t ever burn away! For we’re…UNDEAD!!!