CD Review: Hell Yeah

Hellyeah is a heavy metal band that consists of members if Mudvayne, Pantera, and Nothingface. On April 10, 2007 they released their first full length album via Epic Records.

The lead singer of Hellyeah is Chad Gray from Mudvayne. Greg Tribbet, guitarist, is also from Mudvayne. Tom Maxwell, guitarist, is from Nothingface. Jerry Montano, bassist, is also from Nothingface. Vinnie Paul Abbott, drummer, was formerly with Pantera and Damageplan.

April 2007 saw the release of their first album and it was titled Hellyeah. This album was the first album release for Vinnie Paul Abbott since his brother, Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott, was murdered on stage during a Damageplan concert in December of 2004.

The album has a parental advisory sticker because of strong language. There are twelve tracks on the album. The play time for all twelve songs is forty three minutes and fifty seconds. The titles of the songs and lengths are:

Hellyeah - 3:30

You Wouldn't Know - 4:18

Matter of Time - 3:46

Waging War - 3:05

Alcohaulin' Ass - 3:54

Goddamn - 3:20

In the Mood (Instrumental) - 0:58

Star - 3:42

Rotten to the Core - 3:52

Thank You - 4:31

Nausea - 4:59

One Thing - 3:50The self-titled track "Hellyeah" started seeing radio air time in February 2007. On their official MySpace webpage they have "Matter of Time" and "You Wouldn't Know" in addition to "Hellyeah."

"Thank You" is a tribute to some of the band members who have recently lost members of their family. Vinnie Paul lost his brother and Chad Gray lost his grandmother. "Alcohaulin' Ass" is the most mellow song on the album. This song is obviously about drinking. "Waging War" is a song directed at the press, since the press just uses people to sell their stories. A line from the song is "Use me, to sell your ******* magazines." "Star" sounds like a tribute to a wife or girlfriend with a line like this "My angel, my anchor, my star." Most of the songs are pretty hard and fast paced.

I have looked forward to the release of this album as soon as I had heard about it. The band sounds absolutely awesome and it does not disappoint. This album is good from the first track until the last one. If you are a fan of Mudvayne, Pantera, or Nothingface then this album is a must. You will be hooked from the opening song. So far my favorite songs off the album are the first four songs plus tracks six, eight, and twelve.

Chad Gray and Greg Tribbet are currently working in studio on Mudvayne's next album that is currently scheduled to be released in 2007. Mudvayne should be back out on tour once they have completed their new album.

After the death of his brother, Vinnie Paul Abbott took some time away from music. He formed is own label in February 2006 titled Big Vin Records.

Tom Maxwell and Jerry Montano are are also back in studio with their Nothingface band members working on their next album. Nothingface's next album is also schedule to come out in 2007 and the band should be back out on tour.