It surprises me how many people "in the know" who still are oblivious to this fantastic record. This following statement might taint my otherwise stainless credibility, but I think there's quite a lot of so called "Thrash Classics" that are more than a little overrated. I don't really dare to mention any titles (I fear the vengeful wrath of many a POSSESSED or DARK ANGEL fan. Oops!.), but let's just say that everything "old" and "first-wave" isn't necessarily a work of genius. Dunno if "Metal Deadness" is an all-out piece of genius material either, but it's close. Damn close! And that goes for both bands on this beautiful split-LP. It's usually very easy to pick a favorite on these split affairs, one band often being the talented bunch, the other the "nice blokes" who "deserves a shot". (although they rarely do. A shot in the wrist maybe, to keep 'em out of arms length from any sort of musical instrument for the rest of their useless lives, but I digress...) In this case it's bloody impossible since both bands RRRAAWK! .or something of that sort, whatever you do when you play raw Euro-Thrash exceptionally well. SECOND HELL is the most brutal bunch of the 2, and are about as close to Death Metal as you'd get on vinyl this year. They make a rather sophisticated but totally destructive performance with plenty of similarities to such classics as "Pleasure To Kill", "7 Churches" and the NECRONOMICON debut LP. From the ultra-fast "Prophets Of Hell" to the all-out mayhem of "Assignment To Kill" you get 5 superb, aggressive, deathlike songs of which the intricate "Homicide" is a favorite 5 minutes of superb Deathrashing riffs and rhythms. Nothing even resembling a bad song on this side as a whole. Or the SKULL CRUSHER-flip for that matter! SC is evil Euro-speed in the same style and league as early RUNNING WILD, WARRANT and FUTURE TENSE, e.i. fangfaced, chainsaw-wielding METAL-riffing and evilangry vocals spewing forth some luwly juvenile satanic rantings. "Descend.." crisscross from class-A Speed to this truly demented doomy chorus, catchier than a very catchy thing from hell out to catch you. "Hallelujah" are boosted with spinechilling eerie M.FATEish riffing and cruel DESTRUCTIONlike speed guitars. The lead-riff to "No Boundary.." is just the essence of 80's European Black Heavy Metal and an extremely catchy song that you'd have to be a complete wimp not to love. Finally there's "Massacre" which just keeps blowing your mind with one monster riff after another - an epic from the fiery pits of Hades!
This will always be one of my all-time underground Metal favorites and I cannot recommend it enough. It's actually one of the albums that steered me onto the path of more "serious" Metal-collecting. The incredible Wim Baelus cover art alone - probably my all-time favorite - makes this a must-buy item, but you better hurry since more and more Thrash & Death-metal fans seem to discover this "lost treasure" and it's becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of. Not that it ever was an easy piece to begin with...

note: Some old HELLOWEEN-member had a history in a band called SECOND HELL I've been told. I don't have a clue if there's any connection, but perhaps some die-hard HELLOWEEN-fan can enlighten me?