This band attracted my attention with their last album ‘Kry,’ reviewed on these pages at the very start of 2010. As I pointed out back then, they have released 14 full length albums over the past 8 years, which on one hand could well be applauded as L.O.N, the man behind the music, is undoubtedly dedicated to what he is doing. On the other hand, I find when bands release albums with such great frequency they quickly lose their mystique and it just becomes “another album” by X. Nothing to look forward to, nothing to get excited about and frankly just more of the same.
If you are new to the band then you will probably find that the music is actually not bad at all. There is definitely something entrancing about Hellveto’s sound; on one hand it could be lumped in with the symphonic black metal sub-genre, but to me this seems inaccurate as while there are some really dramatic orchestral components, the core black metal element is far more organic and stripped back rather similar to the likes of labelmates Furia; certainly not aimed at the Dimmu Borgir hoody wearing posers. ‘Gdy ogien u bram zaplonal’ has a flavour I find to be rather exotic; this blows in with a subtle Arabian breeze while there are some delicate guitar lines swaying through the mix. It certainly creates the kind of ambience that one can get caught up in, whisking me away to far-flung desert locations and the boingy rhythm is incredibly mysterious. The waltzing keyboards dance with the grace and delicacy of ethereal fairies en pointe, while on ‘Jam glosem niemych’ things creep in surrounded by dark, wavering keys as violins add a sense of urgency.
The vocals have that Paganic, raspy yell which suits the tone of the music. At times there’s real anger and emotion behind them, although they are far from a focal point and are occasionally drowned out by the symphonic pomp. There’s a melancholic feel that often comes to the fore on this record, making tracks such as the aforementioned ‘Jam glosem niemych’ really sound very beautiful as rich guitar melodies stitch together the bombastic bursts of orchestration.
Yes, there is plenty on this album to shout about, but there is just something that isn’t quite connecting. I feel there is so much potential for Hellveto to produce something truly great as opposed to something merely good, which is what this is, if our boy would just take his time instead of rushing every idea he thinks up out onto disc. This is actually the final part of a trilogy of albums, and as a bonus comes with a second disc of three 20+ minute long tracks to represent each part of the trilogy. I can certainly see why he has done this in a way and it makes an interesting piece. I certainly haven’t been as favourable with this album as I was the last one, and that is simply because I can see there is great potential that isn’t quite being realised yet. I really hope the next one will be a step closer to that, rather than being just another Hellveto album.
http://www.myspace.com/hellveto
