Hell’s Gazelles - 'Take Your Medicine' EP Review

Tracklist:

1. Give Me Something

2. Stone Cold

3. Out Of Time

4. Take Your Medicine

5. She Devil

Oxford’s Hell’s Gazelles Rock out in a furious cannonade of ballistic almost Wagnerian rifferama. Their influences are wide and I sense AC/ DC, The Darkness, Nazareth and Def Leppard but with their very own Hell’s Gazelles stamp of Heavy Rock authority. If Rock voices were champion Russian gymnasts then Cole Bryant possesses a sack load of Olympic Golds for the way his acrobatic voice twists, turns and somersaults so impressively across these five mega thumping tunes. In the press release for the release of the ‘Take Your Medicine’ EP, the band’s second release, Bryant talks of his pride as a lyricist. He explains that the record “deals with mental health, faith, faithlessness and disillusionment, both in politics and our own experience of life”.

This collection of incredibly powerful Rock songs really sits on the cutting edge of the 21st Century zeitgeist. “Give Me Something” is an inspiring treatise on the lies and disrespect of others. One line tells of the band being “sick and tired of mediocrity”. Cole was keen not to drop the profanities from the lyrics and I am glad he didn’t. Clearly the song is unlikely to get played on the radio but damn it has a brutally forceful message. Have you ever been in a relationship where the other partner in it has sucked the blood and energy right out of you? I have and “Stone Cold” is a heartfelt anthem for anyone who has been at the receiving end of such toxicity. The title track of the EP, “Take Your Medicine”, is my favourite so far, although the competition is fierce.

I have mentioned supreme vocalist Cole Bryant a few times, but this is most definitely a band. Nath Digman’s power over the mightiest of Rock riffs is stunning. The rhythm section of Rik Ridemark on bass guitar and Luke Evans on Drums create a bedrock that a dancing mammoth would struggle to break. The cover was created by Very Metal Art and appropriates the ‘Dr Strangechild’ character from their first release. We, no the world, desperately need an album from this lot, but while we are waiting this Extended Play will more than suffice!