Helde - Suaren gerizpea (Album Review)

Tracklist:

1. Suaren Inguruan

2. Belearen Hegaldia

3. Herio Eta Oinaze

4. Garaitezinen Requiema

5. Sasikume

6. Sugar

7. Sakrifizioa (Sacrifice) (Bathory Cover)

This is the first full length album release from the Basque Country based raw atmospheric black metal band Helde, which is comprised of Jorge Azofra on drums, and “T” and “A.A” on everything else. Despite being a full length album it only clocks in at around 17 minutes in total length which is a little disappointing.

Helde create a very interesting sound that is hard to fault on its raw gloomy aggression, and the dark cold atmosphere that it conjures. However, this atmosphere was at times undermined by almost grindcore vocal styles and blast beats that I personally feel didn’t work within the album.

Throughout the album I was reminded of early Mayhem as much of the riff work in the album seems to be very De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas inspired, which is by no means a bad thing. Although it was at times overpowered by the blast beats that kept rearing their head and seem to at times take precedent over even the vocals, which I feel is more of a mixing issue than a musical one.

The album closes on a cover of the Bathory track Sacrifice which is actually a pretty interesting interpretation of the original.

Overall this is by no means a bad album, it just feels as though the band are still trying to develop the sound they want to play, as there seems to be various styles colliding and not all of them work as well as they could.              

Gehenna - First Spell (Album Review)

Tracklist:

1. The Shivering Voice of the Ghost

2. Unearthly Loose Palace

3. Angelwings and Ravenclaws

4. The Conquering of Hirsir

5. Morningstar

This is the first full-length album from the Norwegian black metal four-piece lead by Sanrabb. Gehenna was formed in January 1993 as a nameless project by Sanrabb, Dolgar and Sir Vereda, it wasn’t given a name until they had enough material which would properly represent their voice.

This is an impressive debut full-length that holds the attention almost immediately with its short brooding gothic instrumental organ section that open’s the first track, to its gloomy acoustic and keyboard elements that play an important role throughout the album.

Sanrabb provides very raw vocals that give a palpable sense of dark and cold gothic gloom. The vocals are also well mixed and are clear and audible throughout.

The more traditional black metal instruments (guitar, bass and drums) do seem to take a back seat in much of the album, and are usually overpowered by the very audible keyboard section.

My personal favourite track from the album is probably either The Shivering Voice of the Ghost, or the early Bathory inspired Morningstar.

Overall this is very good album, and is a superb debut full length that I highly recommend checking out.