For future fans of Kal Marks, My Name is Hell will likely serve as a starting point, as it displays the band at their most accessible yet. Since its inception, Kal Marks has gone through many changes. It started as the solo, singer-songwriter, project of Carl Shane, but it has since developed into a full-on collaborative group. Shane’s Neil Young influenced songwriting has found its place in a band influenced by any number of sludge and hard rock groups.
My Name is Hell is Kal Marks’ first official release since their Let The Shit House Burn Down EP came out in 2019, and in that time, there have been a few changes in the band. Kal Marks enlisted the help of Bethlehem Steel/Mulva guitarist Christina Puerto, allowing Carl Shane to share rhythm and lead guitar duties. Citing a desire for a change of pace, Shane shifted his writing focus from guitar to bass leading to the most distinguishing factor for this release, the groove. Each track has memorable, heavy basslines that coupled with the drums, settle into an infectious pulse. “My Name is Hell,” “Ovation,” and “New Neighbor” are songs where this pulse is on prominent display. With low tunings, high energy, and infectious rhythms, this album has a similar feel to that of Queens of the Stone Age, but there’s no mistaking songwriter Carl Shane’s unique musings on existentialism. To Shane, hell is real and it’s here on earth appearing in the form of stagnation and crushing debt. If God exists, he’s uncaring and his wrath is his indifference.
It’s worth mentioning that one of the sticking points for listeners of Kal Marks has been issues with vocalist/songwriter Carl Shane’s singing on past releases. Reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s intentional vocal affectation on the album Nashville Skyline, Shane has historically sung with a somewhat nasally inflection. That inflection is absent from My Name is Hell. There is no mistaking though that this is the voice of none other than Shane, from his distinct lyricism to the ease with which he slides from the tender croon of a balladeer to a hair-raising growl.
The lyrics on this album juxtapose the concerns of deities, god, the devil, heaven and hell with the more mundane concerns of mere mortals who contend with debt, boredom, and waiting. Like the pangs of hunger that plague an empty stomach, the brain suffers pangs of melancholy as the mind has nothing else to do. Boredom may seem a slight inconvenience but the vacuum it creates invites more sinister ailments. Songs like “My Name is Hell” describe a dull evening where the temptations of addiction are allowed to thrive. The songs “Who Waits” and “Bored Again” describe the pain of waiting for better times and the agony it causes.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard many of these songs. In order to fund the recording of My Name is Hell, Kal Marks released a collection of sixteen demos called Broken Songs, which featured a cover of The Sopranos theme song, not included on this release. Broken Songs contains many of the songs on My Name is Hell at various stages, though it’s easy to say that the songs on My Name is Hell are the definitive versions.
The result is a collection of songs that flourish under the careful consideration they have been given over their long gestation period. If the listener is so inclined, they could go back and listen to Broken Songs and trace the evolution of these songs. - Dominic Acito