Hella

There’s No 666 in Outer Space (Ipecac)

By Anne C. Johnson
Published: May 2nd, 2007 | 3:33pm

For Hella, recording There’s No 666 in Outer Space was like being born again, but not as Christians are reborn. The band’s line-up was a duo featuring drummer, Zach Hill, and guitarist, Spencer Seim, mostly out of necessity. A retroactive lineup was created when the duo reconnected with Josh Hill and Carson McWhirter, who were once a part of a pre-Hella configuration. Aaron Ross joined the ranks as singer and four songs — “World Series,” “The Ungrateful Dead,” “Friends Don’t Let Friends Win,” and “The Things that People Do When They Think that No One’s Looking” – were resurrected from the previous incarnation.

There’s No 666 in Outer Space features Hella’s signature free-form chaos but adding more vocals and more structure — all relative, of course — to the compositions. Hill’s tireless drumming is the tremendous force that drives these monumental, but turgid, though not humorless, songs. Mostly, Hella resembles a harder-edged jam band with each musician playing in a vacuum. No one is stealing anyone’s thunder, but the lack of cohesiveness, coupled with Ross’s often irritating vocals, is merely unpleasant. When Hella unite as one (“Anarchists Just Wanna Have Fun” and the title track), there is a terrible power that equals the intelligent, apocalyptic lyrics.

Hella is one of those bands and There’s No 666 in Outer Space is one of those albums that if you mention you do not like it, you may very well be told that you just don’t get it. Just bear in mind that experimentation does not always imply substance.