Review by JD on December 28, 2012.

Veteran Axeman Mark Shelton of Manilla Road fame is one of the most underrated musicians ever. He is one of my all time favorite musicians and he has deserved to be recognized as that for ever. Mark and two others he has assembled has come forth with a new solo project that will place him squarely at the top of the metal heap. Hellwell is the name of this project, metal is its mission.

This is a no brainer to be categorized. This is a 100% old school metal onslaught that three not-so-young men have graced onto the world. There is no Mathcore/Metalcore, Death, Nu-Metal or Groove Metal here - this is the way metal started out as and should be. With effortless melodic riffs, soaring solos that are razor sharp and having vocals that meld the low power of Lemmy with this odd sort of soaring of King Diamond vocals that are tied together with these haunting sort of keyboards that actually work. Metal has returned to its foundations, and it is called Hellwell.

"Beyond The Boundaries Of Sin" is a perfect album to show a true example of some early metal stylings that used keyboards to accent the heaviness, and lets it be known that it can have the freshness and heaviness of todays metal without losing the classic sort of sound. Songs like the infectious thunder of 'Tomb Of The Unnamed One' not to mention the horror movie inspired 'Eaters Of The Dead' shows just how old school metal is still relevant even in the scene now.

Gotta admit that this was a surprise, even though Mr. Shelton is someone that has always been the innovator in metal. Who else could mix Old School metal, Doom Metal feels with mid 70's era Deep Purple and come up with an completely addicting album that would satisfy old bangers and young thrashers all at the same time. Seems to me the veterans of metal, no matter what genre it is, know exactly how to do this and ending up giving some of the best metal around today.

Hellwell’s album is being released officially in January of 2013 - plan hard to get this album.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 9.5

Rating: 9.4 out of 10