Song Review: H.M.J. by Dream Evil

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I am currently vacationing in Costa Rica and today was a religious holiday. In the last few days, there has been a pilgrimage to the Basilica in Cartago to celebrate the virgin Mary. I am not a believer, but I was raised as a roman catholic so I wanted to make a review of a song about a man who is faced with a dangerous task, and on his way he finds Jesus Christ. The Song is called H.M.J. which is short for "Heavy Metal Jesus",  by a band named Dream Evil. This whole introduction might seem like a set up for a sarcastic punchline, but as a matter a fact, I wasn't lying when I said the song was a man encountering Jesus. When I first heard this song it was just the most epic thing I've ever listened to. The title "Heavy Metal Jesus" promises a lot and it delivers. Anyone remotely into metal and Heavy Metal needs to listen to this song. This should be a metal classic alongside Master of Puppets, The Trooper, Run to the Hills, Raining Blood, Cowboys from Hell, etc.

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I was extremely curious about the band Dream Evil when I first heard this song. It had a lot of "power metal" imagery (fantasy elements, like monsters, epic adventures, etc) but combined with the theme of Jesus blessing a warrior. I thought this might be a christian metal band like Skillet or Stryper, however I found no information to support this claim, and most of their songs seem to have an entirely different vibe from this one, more leaned to fantasy rather than religion. Dream Evil is a Swedish power metal/heavy metal band formed in 1999. To be honest, I'm not a fan of their other work. I heard Todd in the Shadows quoting a critic in his show "One Hit Wonderland" saying that one good song can save an album but one great song can kill it. I feel like that but with Dream Evil's other songs. If I had heard their other songs before H.M.J. I'd probably like them more, but H.M.J. is such a great song with a lot of energy that their other work just seem to lack.



So, what makes H.M.J. so great? There's a little term I use which is called "Primal Metal". When you listen to a lot of music as I do, specially Metal, you'll end up finding musically complex and intriguing artists and musicians that are not only talented but also complex and interesting (either instrumentality, technicality, or both). Some bands like these are Wagakki Band, Diablo Swing Orchestra, Luca Turilli's Rhapsody, etc. But sometimes all this complexity is just exhausting and you just want to rock out, and you want something a little more straight forward, basic and simple yet hard and powerful. Rammstein and Bullet for My Valentine are 2 bands I go to when I need to fulfill that primal need of mine, hence the term "Primal Metal". H.M.J. is as primal as you can get: hard, rocking and grooving, not stopping. The first thing you hear, an incredible guitar riff that grabs you from the first second you hear it. It kinda has a bluesy flare to it and it's heavy like any good metal song should be. The drums and bass just groove with that riff giving it a lot of energy, making it an all round fun song to listen to. I begin tapping my feet and headbanging from the first 10 seconds of the song. It's quite a simple song, but it's also pretty short, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.

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The energy of this song is just infectious. It pumps you up like very few songs can. Something like "Eye of the Tiger", "The Final Countdown". A more direct song would be "Walk" by Pantera which is another song that grooves you into it's realm of power. I honestly think I could win a fight listening to this song, and keep in mind I am an online music critic (physical activity is not my forte at all). The guitar solo is just your classic shred. Throughout the song, there is a "Call-Response" between the vocals and the lead guitar, the singer throws a verse and the lead guitar responds with a short killer solo. But when it's on the main solo the guitarist just takes it away with a solo worthy of Kirk Hammett from Metallica with great speed and amazing use of the wah-wah pedal. The singer is not that great for power metal standards. He's good, but he's no Bruce Dickinson or Dio. But in this song, he sells me on it. He doesn't hit high notes like an opera singer but the ones he does are just the right ones. He doesn't oversell it: What you came for is what you get.

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Lyrically, you get what you were promised. This is one of the few songs I've seen in a while that actually tells a story. However unlike other songs with a narrative, this one is very straightforward. There are no metaphors, poetic arrangements, nothing. The story is as straightforward as "Last night I went to a bar and met this chick". The song tells about a man (probably a warrior) going to slay a beast as he encounters Jesus on his way. Jesus warns him about the dangers ahead and the valiant warrior decides to continue on his way. Jesus blesses him and the warrior proceeds with his journey. Does he ever succeed, the story doesn't say. Jesus just blessed the man with his Flying-V and the man continues his journey. Honestly, I think the story is perfect the way it is. You don't need to know if the narrator slayed the beast or not because that is not the focus of the story. The focus is "Heavy Metal Thunderstrucking Jesus" (direct quote from the song). It's like a friend trying to tell you a story about how he met George Clooney and he decided to focus on the penny he found afterwards. When you meet the Son of God introducing himself saying "I'm heavy metal Jesus" you know what you're story HAS to be about.



H.M.J. is just, to me, one of those stupidly perfect songs. Everything is so simple you'd swear they came up with this in a jam session in one go and the lyrics were an improv intended as a joke, yet it all just comes together so perfectly, and honestly, I think the beauty of this song lies on it's simplicity and the energy in which the song is being played. There's not really a lot to say, but you'll feel it once you hear it. What can I say other than it is Heavy Metal Thunderstrucking Jesus!

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