Hell in Boxes

‘hell in Eden’ is like a dream. Captivating… stunning… unreal! And yet the mighty maestros of DIARY OF DREAMS have made it come true. ‘hell in Eden’ feels like coming home. Due to the distinct and doubtlessly one-of-a-kind DIARY sound, that's been accompanying us since their debut ‘Cholymelan’ in 1994, there's always this certain feeling of familiarity right from the first listening of a new DIARY piece.

Arriving hot on the heels of 2010’s highly conceptual Hang Cool Teddy Bear, Hell in a Handbasket feels like an intimate affair but that assessment is relative. Coming from any other artist, Hell in a Handbasket would sound overblown but for Meat Loaf, it’s relatively reflective, containing thunder in its production but lacking melodrama in its composition. Despite the strategic deployment of “hell” in its title, this album has nothing to do with the three previous Bat Out of Hell albums, including 2006’s Jim Steinman-less The Monster Is Loose, but it has Meat Loaf's signature everything-plus-two-kitchen-sinks approach, sometimes stretching past the point of parody as when he brings in his fellow Celebrity Apprentice contestants John Rich, Lil Jon, and Mark McGrath in for the nonsensical cluster-duet “Stand in the Storm.”