Hungary’s hottest upstarts The Hellfreaks are ready to serve another dose of their skillfully combined modern metal blend, featuring heavy post-hardcore and skate punk influences galore. Topped with a mix of delicate clean vocals and aggressive screams, they are primed to drop jaws around the world. With over a million Spotify spins of their most popular hit “Men in Grey,” The Hellfreaks are off to a flying start with their upcoming fifth album, Pitch Black Sunset, out April 14, 2023 via Napalm Records.
Vocalist Zsuzsa “Shakey Sue“ Radnóti tells us the band’s biggest influences and the essential songs of The Hellfreaks to hear.
INFLUENCES
The Distillers “City of Angels”
Distillers is definitely THE band that made me want to become a singer. Back when I was a teenager, underground music was way more male dominated, and somehow I thought that is the way it has to go. When I found the band, saw and heard Brody Dalle the first time, it opened my eyes and made me realize that we cannot just be part of the game, but we can lead the game. We can rule the stage with the same attitude and be the same force that so many male singers proved before. All we need is the “I don’t give a damn” attitude, and Brody Dalle was and is a real inspiration in that regard.
Raised Fist “Friends and Traitors”
Everyone who knows the essence of The Hellfreaks is familiar with our way of thinking. When it comes to songwriting, whenever we have to choose between two options, we are always going to choose the unusual one. Why? Because it’s so crazy hard to do something unique after all. But to not end up “too weird,” you have to be damn good at what you are doing. Raised Fist is a perfect example that we have analyzed over and over. The energy this band is releasing and the unique, remarkable vocal technique and sound Alexander is using is the trademark of this band. You just hear three seconds of it and you know that this is Raised Fist. Nothing is more important than having a sound where everyone immediately recognizes that it is yours.
Marmozets “Born Young and Free”
I’m blown away by this band and actually a bit jealous to see how much talent they had at such a young age. This was the first time I realized how melodic vocals can be while adding different types of screaming techniques to it. Becca was a huge inspiration for choosing the vocal techniques I’ve learned in the last years and that I’m using these days.
ESSENTIALS
“Men in Grey”
We are waving the flag of punk and new generation metal. Our songs are a blend of our favorite rock genres, and “Men in Grey” is the perfect example for our punk rock side. Fun fact of this song is not only is the result punk, but also the recording of the song. Here we used the demo recordings of the vocals for the chorus, because we captured an unrepeatable moment.
“Hit Me Where It Hurts”
This song is the typical Hellfreaks cocktail. If you just listen to one of our songs, listen to this. Here you can find everything that we are.
“Weeping Willow”
This one is the perfect example to show you how versatile our music can be. It never gets boring with us, as we love to experiment, and we’re not afraid to reveal new sides of the band. Most of the time, even we don’t know where our next step will lead us, but we for sure will never take a step back.
