Leo Biollo Has Been From the Depths of Hell To The Gates of Heaven

It's been a long long time since I've heard a metal album that's really impressed me. Somewhere after 1995 it seemed as though metal lost it's way and actually became too commercial for it's own good. Even death metal became commercialized and mainstream. As a result I lost faith in the genre, simply because it became a cliche of itself. Thankfully, not everyone who was around 15 years ago lost faith in the scene. Canadian Leo Biollo is one of those people who remembered how good the underground metal scene was back in the day and was determined to pay it tribute. As fate would have it, he's done just that with his debut album, From the Depths of Hell To The Gates of Heaven.

An autobiographical concept album, From the Depths of Hell To The Gates of Heavenis the best thrash album that was never recorded in 1990. This is an album that takes all the best elements of Iron Maiden, Testament, old Megadeth, Possessed, Exodus and throws them into the most violent mosh pit ever. From the Depths of Hell To The Gates of Heaven is a churning brutal album of riffs that roar like a freight train, blast beats that explode out of your speakers, and a heaviness that is only matched by a Terex truck. This is metal the way metal should be...brutal, heavy, and rich on imagery. From the Depths of Hell To The Gates of Heaven simply put, is one of the best metal album I've heard in years.

Telling the personal tale of Biollo from a metaphorical perspective the album is loaded with religious symbolism, good vs. evil, battles, mayhem, and chaos. Somehow it all relates back to its creator. It's truly impressive that Biollo, through it all, hangs on to his faith while still managing to write music that sounds like the hounds of hell escaping from the fires beneath. Biollo is an astonishing guitarist of all types and when you throw into the mix his songwriting skills you have one heck of a combination. The guy clearly knows his metal, knows his guitars, and knows how to write bone crunching songs. The proof is all over From the Depths of Hell To The Gates of Heaven as the album is a frantic, mind-blowing display of this guy's talent.

I can't really state how good this record is. If you've ever considered yourself a headbanger you will find this album 100% essential. This is the sound of the underground when it was still underground and Leo Biollo has paid it a tribute worthy of the scene that bore it.