Some more Heavy Metal grog has been served up for the fans who need their thirst for cascading drumlines and electric hell-riffs quenched. This time, the brew of the week is Paradise Slaves, a new name in the industry, which is releasing its debut album to a sizeable fanbase.
This is partly due to the lineup comprising 36 Crazyfists, Brock Lindow, and two guitarists from the Y2K era Metalcore band, Diecast: Tyler Stroetzel and Jon Kita. Rounding them out is Pentagram’s most recent former drummer, Ryan Manning. This Heavy Metal, Metalcore, and Doom Metal hodgepodge checks the boxes to make a proper thunder of sound.
The band also boasts that it was signed to Spinefarm Records before its first LP release. Initially planning to release With Hell in His Eyes independently, the band dropped a few singles as feelers in 2024 and gained the attention of the Finnish Heavy Metal record label. Gaining a proper label for their release seems to have helped their production process, and all their songs have that professional polish needed for a sound barrage to succeed.
At least releasing With Hell in His Eyes on May 2, 2025, although this music is repetitive and the lyrics cannot be described precisely as poetic, the quality is there. It is traditional Metal, but it is good traditional Metal with some medium-paced tracks and an emphasis on Brock’s vocals. The lead singer of 36 Crazyfists has started a new path away from his past band, but his voice, which gave the original band their hype, is still displayed here for anyone to hear, especially in the first track “For Those Who Watch The Sea” and the title track “With Hell in His Eyes.” Both songs lean into lyricism, putting the instrumental capabilities of the genre away for later. The result is nothing to cry about, not just because of the lyrics. The pull of hardcore Metal is the coalescence of unrefined energy that each instrument brings with the collision of a stabbing guitar, galloping drums, and gravelly vocals.
Comparing “For Those Who Watch The Sea” with the cover of Soul Asylum’s “Somebody To Shove” feels impossible because of how different the two songs are. The first track has a calming intro, juxtaposed with the entrance of Brock Lindow, while the ninth feels more like tidal waves of energy surrounding Brock’s voice. The sound is much more effective. It may be the general chaos in the overall sound, the guitar solo bridge in the middle of the piece, or how the vocals are used as an accompaniment rather than a crutch. Either way, the formula is not set in stone, and the changing of energy and vocal importance makes the album a little splotchy.
Upon listening to the track “Always Have Always Will,” the image of a grim reaper, parading across the land to spread death and capture souls, is placed into the listener’s mind. “Dreamers” too, with its gritty guitar and on-the-nose lyrics –
“I’ve been friends with the Devil” and “Where do we roam from here/ lost amongst the days”
Paradise Slaves have this side of their expression on lock, but it feels a little bland without much more. The reaper of souls has gotten plenty of attention since Iron Maiden and Megadeth exalted him in the ’90s. It is time to do a little more with the sound. Even if 36 Crazyfists and Pentagram are known for this type of sound, the reason for making a new band should be experimentation.
On that topic, there is almost a promise of electronic Synthwave experimentation in the album that is never fully delivered on, which is a little upsetting. “For Those Who Watch the Sea” and “A Fever to Defeat” use some synth sound much calmer than traditional Metal and edge into the heavy yet repressed sound of Metalgaze. The electronic sampling at the start of “A Fever to Defeat” sets up a Webcore/Breakcore-derived sound, but instead, it just breaks down into the same hard thrashing sound that exists in the rest of the album. With that in mind, Paradise Slaves alters the formula, and while that is precisely what a new band should do, they are taking one step out but leaving the other foot in the door, and the result is a collage of sound that does not know where it wants to be.
Overall, With Hell in His Eyes is a well-refined first release from a band that already has its chops. It leaves us asking why more than anything. If the artists wanted to release more of the same, why must they procure a new band name and label? This is the time for experimentation and dissection of past sounds. Some tracks flounder, trying to find new methods, while others stick to the past. What’s good is always good… right? We like the vocals and the polished yet energetically chaotic sound, but we want more. That is why Cryptic Rock gives this album 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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