Helms Alee – Night Terror
Posted on November 22, 2008 at 7:26 pm by admin
Sometimes I’ll get an album, and I’ll be listening to it thinking that I’ve never had an album in my possession quite like, but that I’ve heard it somewhere before. Initially I did think of something similar to Cult of Luna, only much more of a post-rock band as opposed to a metalgaze band.
It’s a strange beast this “Night Terror“, as the bass is up front buzzing pretty heavily, while the clean shiny guitar tones work off the action. It’s difficult to tell where one song starts and another begins, as the album has a continual, constant flow of energy, and while for the most part it’s relaxed, that distorted bass and some added vocals with a little bit of bark and bite to them do heavy up the contact. Vocally, the album has (I believe) two vocalists, one male and one female, with the male voice taking up more playing time. Most of the time, the singing I’d say is on the indie side, and are about as clear as mountain water, with the exception of the earlier mention harshness added to the male tone every and then. The vocals don’t dominate every moment of the music, but instead add more of a compass to what’s going on, and go with the general relaxed pace of “Night Terror”.
It’s hard where to place “Night Terror”, as it’s not quite rock, and it’s not quite heavy, so perhaps listing it as an evolution of alternative, or perhaps an alternative to the alternative would be more appropriate. The title “Night Terror” likely suggests that album has a darker side to it than I’m personally picking up; being the metal guy I am I typically associate harshness with darkness, so from a personal standpoint the album comes off as easy listening for those into metal (and those who can’t tolerate actual “easy listening”).
Released August 5th, 2008
Helms Alee at MySpace
Hydra Head Records at MySpace
Buy this album at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
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