The interesting thing about Hel for me is that it is both. Some people go there after death, if they have broken oaths ect. But you can also enter as a living, granted with some major dificulies. I think Davem points this out earlier, atleast that Odin passes throught the gates of hel.
As such hel is a mix for me, but I still wiev it more as Angband than Mandos, althought Wiki seems to disagree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hel_%28realm%29