ALBUM REVIEW: Helslave – From The Sulphur Depths

Italian Death Metallers HELSLAVE are back with their 2nd full length album. Out via Pulverised Records and Desert Wasteland Productions on April 23rd.

Creepy samples start off our cosmic journey with an otherworldly introduction, bringing the horrors from the depths lurking into the foreground. A cacophony of blastbeats and pulverising chainsaw riffs cut right into the flesh without warning, topped by maniacal vocals that are certainly as brutal as the instrumental onslaught. The battery at hand is visceral packed with some glorious grooves amidst the frenzied chaos, utilising the wonderful HM-2 tone to great effect, but more importantly, having the killer riffs to make it worthwhile. The solos are reminiscent of Dismember and Bloodbath with their melody-tinged shredding that accentuates the overall gut-wrenching feel of the song but in harmonious fashion. This record is off to a totally ferocious and unfathomably heavy start, let’s hope they keep this quality and level of devastation consistently throughout.

Aside from the typical Swedeath crawls and grooves (which we naturally see plenty of), there is a high-octane, energetic performance with plenty of high tempo insanity and the dynamic changes make the record feel unpredictable and much more fierce as a result. Certainly we see tons of headbanger-friendly moments, but entwined with utterly vitriolic and cavernous Death Metal that drips a Lovecraftian aura into the mix. The melodic side of things is used minimally which gives some nice flavouring to the crushing assault while not tainting it and making it less impactful, this is a hard balance to maintain but Helslave nails it. Cracking through the tombstones, monolithic drum work constantly assists the formidable guitar and bass work in their deliverance of maniacal intensity while the vocals rip through the chainsaw guitars with just as much power. This is an undoubtedly strong performance from a band whom may be a new name to many (myself included), that demands immediate respect from the Death Metal underground.

Stomping, crawling, spewing and destroying with their infectious and mighty music, Helslave continue to lay waste to all with their unholy brand of macabre putridity in a manner that encapsulates all of the right sounds and feelings to conjure an unforgettable Death Metal spectre. Between the punishing and ruthless “Unholy Graves” to the total headbanging fest of “Last Nail In The Coffin” right through to closing piece “The Sentence Of The Living” we see plenty of diversity while an overall high level of energy is maintained that ensures the whole album is an exciting experience with horrors lurking behind every corner. There is plenty of rotten tools in the Helslave arsenal and they utilise them all to great effect and with transitions that are never jarring and always feel like natural yet no less gruesome twists of fate in this contorting concoction of ghastly Death Metal horrors.

A crushing and pulverising slab of total old school Death Metal carnage in the Swedish vein but with plenty of dynamics and an unpredictable approach. If you seek HM-2 morbidity with the intensity on full, Helslave is the band for you as this new recording is a blistering opus of filth that radiates a miasmic glow that is inescapable.