The sounds of hell smolder, the sounds of hell burn, and then the sounds of hell consume you. On their long-awaited debut album The Sounds of Hell, the NSW/ACT based death metal/hardcore group Honest Crooks stand tall as a fully realised band. The pure rage on display is as subtle as a sledgehammer swung from the rooftops, while a deep pain bleeds through every impact. The result of soldiering on through several years of lineup rotations and perseverance over less-than-ideal circumstances, the album sees their sound dig deeper into dark melody than ever before, displaying a perhaps surprisingly deft handle on a style that began as something much more straightforward and ignorant.