HELLYEAH have been in my music periphery’s for a few years now – I had heard of them, I knew something about being a supergroup, I was told to listen to them by a few people, but I just never got around to them. A song of theirs would come on and I would ask “Who is this? They sound familiar.” I would be told “HELLYEAH! You’ll enjoy them!” And then it would stop – I never looked into them further, for what ever reason.
Now, as a huge fan of MuDvAyNe, I was quite saddened when they decided to call it a day. I felt like the band had a lot more to say, just going by their discography to date. But at least we got a brief period of time when they were a thing. So when Apple Music played me the latest single Welcome Home from HELLYEAH, I immediately latched onto it.
You see, the lead singer – Chad Grey – was the singer of MuDvAyNe. His voice and singing style is so distinct, and not having a MuDvAyNe album since 2009 meant that it was a very welcome and familiar sound. This has the effect of learning more about their super group status, and coming away super impressed! After all here are all the members that are or have been in HELLYEAH:
Chad Gray – the singer from MuDvAyNe
Christian Brady – the guitarist from Magna-Fi and Franky Perez & The Truth
Tom Maxwell – the guitarist from Nothingface
Kyle Sanders – the bassist from Bloodsimple
Roy Mayorga – the touring and now the replacement drummer
Vinnie Paul – THE drummer from Pantera and Damageplan
Greg Tribbett – the guitarist from MuDvAyNe
Bob Zilla – the bassist from Hush Money and Damageplan
Jerry Montano – the bassist from Nothingface
As you can see, there is immense talent that has come into this band – I mean Vinnie Paul alone should get the blood pumping!
Sadly, while recording Welcome Home, Vinnie Paul passed away from a heart attack. It sent shock waves through the entire alternative/rock/metal community. Vinnie Paul was a legend, along with his brother Dimebag Darrel (who passed away after he was shot on stage in 2004). They were the sound of Pantera! As this album is the last album to feature Vinnie Paul’s drumming, finishing it off and putting it out was not an easy process for the band. After all Vinnie was the type of guy who built a bungalow on his property so the band members could have somewhere to live while they recorded in his studio.
Its not everday a workmate builds you a house…
Because of this, Welcome Home (album) has overtones of sadness, loss and anger all through it. Its the tale of a band honoring their friend, continuing his legacy and putting out some really good and heavy music.
The album opens with the track 333 (or Triple Three). While recording it, it didn’t have a name yet. So Vinnie nicknamed it 333 due to the un-produced track being 3 minutes and 33 seconds, and that “333 is like half-evil”. After his passing, it was decided to keep the name as a way to keep his sense of humour alive. From the get go, you know what type of album you’re in for – from Grey’s scream and straight into the hook.
Welcome to the Slamboree
HELLYEAH – 333
If you’re not in the club, it must suck to be
Welcome to the family, we’re the root of half evil reppin’ 333
The titular track – Welcome Home – has that amazing flow MuDvAyNe were known for. The track pushes and pulls the listener, from melodic to metal, from sadness to anger. This was the first song written for this album, and it set the tone for what the band was trying to achieve.
The smell of rain in the sky
The tears are gone, the well is dry
Why is my feeling of loss like a welcome home?
So welcome homeAll the light fades to dark
Welcome Home – HELLYEAH
All that’s good gets torn apart
Why is this feeling of loss like a welcome home?
So welcome home
The rest of the album is also pretty good, but I will not go into depth here. The reason being that its taken me a few days to write this blog post – bits here and bites there – and I have simply run out of steam. This is no indication of the band or the album, but merely my impatience with dwelling on the same topic for a few days, and my short attention span.
If you liked MuDvAyNe, you’ll like HELLYEAH. If you like good music, you’ll like HELLYEAH. If you got goosebumps reading any of the present or former members names or bands, you’ll like HELLYEAH. In fact, if you are ever at a metal-head’s party and HELLYEAH came on, no one would change the song. Its that much of a staple. I was just clearly late to this band wagon.
With the loss of Vinnie, I’ll be interested to see where the band goes to from here. What ever they do, they’ll find success. Of that, I have absolute faith in.
