If There's Hell Below [Red On for the Darkness Swirl]

by If There's Hell Below / Various (Colv) (Red)

Overview

If There's Hell Below borrows its title from Curtis Mayfield, and one of its inclusions, Stone Coal White's ambling "You Know," quotes an earlier and optimistic Mayfield classic. Somewhat to the contrary, this Numero Group compilation -- largely the domain of fuzz merchants in altered states of oblivion -- documents early-'70s Black American underground aftershocks of Jimi Hendrix (the literal turn-of-the-decade Band of Gypsys especially), Parliament, and Black Sabbath. Nearly all of selections are repurposed from earlier Numero releases, and a handful of them were first dredged up by the Memphix label's Chains and Black Exhaust, an illuminating CD-only comp highly coveted since its limited 2002 release. The Numero catalog is vast enough to warrant this type of cannibalization, as this zeroes in on a particular aspect with enough acute discernment to place it in the realm of their Darkscorch Canticles and Acid Nightmares sets. Where those compilations coughed up a whole lot of fantastical lyrical imagery, the bands here are coping with real-life woes, usually of the romantic variety, processing them into raw and disoriented art. The first few songs, all coolly slumped, set the tone, highlighted by the dazed Chicago blues-funk scrawl of Little Ed & the Soundmasters' "It's a Dream." Just past them is the Directory's "World and Creation," a ballad simultaneously pacifying and eerie like Bohannon's "Save Their Souls." The second side is stronger yet, and little of it is 3 a.m. slouch. Some players are lucid and seemingly alert, like Iron Knowledge, Youngstown products whose Chains and Black Exhaust nugget "Show-Stopper" proclaims "Down with cocaine -- we're doin' our thang" as it gnashes away. Solid Gold's "Message to Planet Earth," one of two songs appearing to resurface for the first time here, brings the persuasive sci-fi gospel. Packing the mightiest wallop are Detroit's Flying Wedge, whose "I Can't Believe" has a simple romantic message but absolutely cooks. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	10/27/2023
Label:	NUMERO
UPC:	0825764150828

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Creations Unlimited   Primary Artist
Iron Force   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
Solid Gold   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
The Directory   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
The Basement   Primary Artist
Muse   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
Little Ed   Primary Artist
The Young Senators   Primary Artist
Basement   Primary Artist
Stone Coal White   Primary Artist
Little Ed & the Soundmasters   Primary Artist
Flying Wedge   Primary Artist
Three Days Ahead LPF   Primary Artist
Sir Stanley   Primary Artist
Iron Knowledge   Primary Artist
Alexander Love   Featured Artist