Messenger's See You in Hell is a European-flavored collection of traditional Heavy Metal. The pacing ranges from mid to quite speedy and the performances are good but aren't likely to blow you away. The high-pitched vocals and double-kick drums of the opening songs ("Flames of Revenge" and the title track) will have you thinking of a less Power Metal version of Gamma Ray or perhaps Ross the Boss' latest effort. After those two songs, the album changes, with the pacing becoming generally slower, the tone darker and the vocals even higher. Thus See You in Hell starts to resemble A Tortured Soul's Lucifer's Fate as much as anything else, especially in the sound of the guitars. "Falconlord" is the standout song, a seven minute epic with an anthemic chorus, whereas the cover of Helloween's "Dr. Stein" is less than scintillating and the album would have been better off without it.
I can't say Messenger is at the same level as Ross the Boss or A Tortured Soul, to say nothing of Gamma Ray, but they are certainly competent all around. See You in Hell is enjoyable enough while it is on, solid, but unoriginal.
