Since their debut in 2001, Sacramento's Hella has excelled at monstrously tight spazz--a none-more-prog take on hardcore with time signatures that shift within measures and dizzyingly complex guitar tablature keeping pace. For years Hella perfected the brew as a duo, but for THERE'S NO 666 IN OUTER SPACE, guitarist Spencer Seim and drummer Zach Hill recruited second guitarist Josh Hill, bassist Carson McWhirter, and--gasp--vocalist Aaron Ross to fill out the band's trademark clatter.
The additions work very nicely and,while nothing changes in Hella's basic approach, the second riffing guitar and Ross's vocals--oddly reminiscent of an emo Julian Casablancas--bring some structure to Hella's practiced chaos and, for once, give listeners something to hold on to. While hardly Top 40 material, songs such as "The Ungrateful Dead," "Let Your Heavies Out," and "Anarchists Just Wanna Have Fun" are as close to catchy as Hella gets.