His Hero Is Gone: Fifteen Counts Of Arson

His Hero Is Gone. Definitely one of my all time favorites when it came to music that had a Crust Punk/Sludge Metal influence. They formed in 1995 and hailed from Memphis, Tennessee. This was a period of time where I was starting to really get tired of metal. My top 4 Metal bands were eating shit(Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica & Voivod) and I was far more interested at HxC's take on the genre. Bands such as Man Is The Bastard, Neanderthal, Rorschach and many others come to mind. But HHIG really caught my attention.

Their tuned down guitars/bass, huge anvil-esque power behind the drums was so crushing to me. I thought they were the perfect band to listen to if you were extremely upset. Especially anything related to "the man", if you will.

The name came from a newspaper headline that Carl(bassist/vocals) saw. It was to be interpreted in many ways as well as their way of trying to avoid the standard names that you would find in the Crust scene. You could always tell because they had "Dis" at the beginning of their title.(IE:Disrupt)

Their following was rather large at the time of their existence. Never using a website or any form of major, nor college radio play, they would find themselves playing all over the U.S., Europe, Japan and so on. Whenever I would see them live, I knew I had to make it early. Hundreds of people were always expected. And their shows? Brutal. Very tight and coherent changes for such heavy, low ended music.

Hearing this record brings back a lot of good memories of my travels as a teen and early 20's. I instantly think of More Than Music Festival in Columbus, OH, The Michigan Fests that would occur in the spring, Goleta, CA Festivals, basement shows, VFW halls, the works. A time when people really didn't give a shit what you looked like or who you knew, but rather were more interested in figuring out what makes you tick, where the best meals in your town can be located and at the end of it all, you most likely had a new long time friend.

As cheesy as this may sound, it is the truth. It saddens me to see the current state of affairs in similar or like minded scenes. A time of Myspace, flashy banner ads and hi profile tours. Seems the message just got lost somewhere.

Fifteen Counts Of Arson



1. Professional Mind Fuckers - 2:07
2. ...And We Burn - 0:53
3. Unleash - 0:25
4. Leash - 1:54
5. Sterile Fortress - 1:44
6. Good Samaritan - 0:29
7. Hand That Feeds - 0:21
8. Rain Dance - 2:42
9. Voluntary Amputation - 0:52
10. Anthem For The Undesirables - 0:58
11. Scalor - 1:54
12. Concrete Cage - 0:37
13. Abandoned - 1:25
14. Thieves - 1:30
15. The End Result Of 11 Months In The Mental Hospital - 4:42