HELMS DEEP, a heavy metal band from Florida, US, formed by singer/songwriter/guitarist Alex Sciortino to channel his love of classic heavy metal music along with thunderous bass playing which also includes backup vocals of John Gallagher (RAVEN) and drumming and careful songwriting of Mike Heller (RAVEN, MALIGNANCY) comes with his debut album entitled “Treacherous Ways“, an album containing 11 songs with nuances of old-school heavy metal and power metal.
“Treacherous Ways” features extraordinary songs with a typical heavy metal rhythm that is catchy and light with fast guitar melodies combined with vocals with high octave screams that are enough to describe both old-school fanatics and extraordinary modern musicians. Not only that, the drums are powerful and bombastic and the choruses are strong and easy to digest, making it very easy for the songs on this album to remain in our memories, and the colorful bass lines create something unique, interesting and full of nostalgia.
Some of the songs that really impressed me included “Medusa’s Requiem“, a super duper catchy and light song with a guitar melody that was able to generate positive adrenaline, at least for me. Then the song “Breaking The Seal” with its fast guitar melodies and sometimes the vocal character reminds me of Tarek Maghary (MAJESTY), the song “Headless Horseman” with its saw rhythm “Serpent’s Eye” with its guitar rhythm which sometimes reminds me of the song “Fast As A Shark” by ACCEPT. And almost all the songs have beautiful and very melodic and fast solos, for example in the song entitled “Annihilation“.
With vintage art from the legendary Michael Whelan adorning the album cover and studio production from Lasse Lammert (SIGH, GLACIER, RAVEN), HELMS DEEP have brought the spirit of the past with a vengeance to this incredible debut power show.
As a final words, for those of you who are fans of classic melodic heavy/power metal music, it is a must to listen to this album. “Treacherous Ways” is a debut album that is very capable in terms of various aspects of production and musical talent and there is no need to doubt the achievements of its personnel. This album is also highly recommended for fans of bands such as ATTACKER, LIEGE LORD, NASTY SAVAGE and TYRANT.
LINE UP:
John Gallagher – Bass, Vocals
Mike Heller – Drums
Alex Sciortino – Vocals, Guitars
TRACKLIST:
1. Fire Rain
2. Treacherous Ways
3. Fight or Flight
4. Medusa’s Requiem
5. Annihilation
6. Breaking the Seal
7. The Keep
8. Sorcery
9. Mountains of the Scorpion
10. Headless Horseman
11. Serpent’s Eye
SCORE:
Music: 8
Production: 8
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelmsDeep666
Bandcamp: https://helmsdeep666.bandcamp.com/album/treacherous-ways
Label store: https://www.namelessgraverecords.com/
