Sunday, October 19, 2008

Hellveto - Neoheresy (2008)


The prolific L.O.N. of Poland has delivered his 11th full length album in just six years, and arguably one of his most successful at merging symphonic synthesizer elements with sweeping, slow to mid-paced pagan folk metal.

You'll notice an elevation in production values here, even over his more recent records like Stos and 996. The six tracks manage to sojourn through both sorrow-filled landscapes and glorious uproars. Instrumentation is well woven; the heavy use of atmospheric synthesizer never drowns out the guitars, bass, or vocals which all sit central to the mix. This is an album that would possibly appeal to fans of symphonic metal ranging from the bombast of a Therion to the more raw appeal of Summoning.

Despite the effort, it's still not a great album. Several of the compositions make it simple to lose oneself in their herculean glory, but even these are inconsistent. The rather steady pacing throughout can make the album less appealing, though it isn't without a few fast bits, for example "Sredniowieczna Egzekucja" with it's charge riffs but rather dull drum blasting, infused with bells and swelling synthesized strings. I'll reiterate that this is likely his best work to date, and with this level of progression I can only imagine how far he will take this over the course of the next 11 albums...

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://www.hellveto.com/

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