THE HELLACOPTERS — Supershitty to the Max! (review)

THE HELLACOPTERS — Supershitty to the Max! album cover

Album · 1996 · Hard Rock

3.5/5 · 2013-11-07
UMUR

"Supershitty to the Max!" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish hard rock/garage rock act The Hellacopters. The album was released through various labels (White Jazz Records/Toys Factory/Man's Ruin Records) in February 1996. The Hellacopters was formed in 1994 by Entombed drummer Nicke Andersson (who sings and plays guitar on this album), Backyard Babies guitarist Dregen, drummer Robert Eriksson (who was a roadie for Entombed) and Nicke Andersson´s childhood friend Kenny Håkansson (bass). The band was initially a hobby-project, but became a full-time act for the members (Dregen would still work with Backyard Babies though) after Nicke Andersson left Entombed in 1997.

I remember the sound of "Supershitty to the Max!" being a bit surprising when it was released, but that´s because I came from a death metal background/point of view and knew Nicke Andersson as one of the forefathers of the Swedish death metal scene. An avid tape trader and a prolific death metal visionaire. The Entombed album "Wolverine Blues (1993)" featured quite a few heavy metal/hard rock oriented elements but it is still predominantly a death metal album, so I wasn´t prepared for "Supershitty to the Max!", which sounds like a mix of MC5, The Stooges, Motörhead and The Ramones. It´s first with the next Entombed album "DCLXVI - To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth (1997)", that it became obvious that Nicke Andersson had aquired a taste for a more garage rock/rock´n´rolled music style from playing with The Hellacopters, which probably resulted in his departure from Entombed.

Filthy, noisy and energetic hard rock/garage rock delivered with great conviction is what you get on "Supershitty to the Max!". I´ve always found Nicke Andersson´s voice a bit anonymous and slightly weak, but it´s not a major issue and other than than that the band deliver a very organic played and authentic music style.

"Supershitty to the Max!" features one of the strongest and most "Fuck Yeahh"!!! opening tracks in history in "(Gotta Get Some Action) Now!", which is simply party starter track number one on my party starter playlist. Now this is how you open a rock´n´roll album in style. The quality drops slightly from there, but overall "Supershitty to the Max!" is a powerful and enjoyable album throughout. I guess you can call it slightly one-dimensional both when it comes to song structures and general style, but that´s to be expected from an album in this style.

The sound production, which to my great surprise is courtesy of Tomas Skogsberg (legendary Swedish death metal producer) is absolutely filthy and raw to the max. It´s a bit hard on the ears, but suits the music perfectly.

So upon conclusion "Supershitty to the Max!" fully succeeds in communicating a filthy and noisy garage rock style in an authentic fashion and fans of the above mentioned acts should find great listening pleasure here. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.