Release Date: September 29th 2023. Record Label: Ripcord Records. Formats: CD/DD
To Be Forgotten - Tracklisting
Dark Clouds
Guns Heal The Sick
The Bones Of Giants
Teeth
Review:
UK Doom/Post-Metallers Helve debut album To Be Forgotten draws upon the complexities and progressive sounds of bands such as ISIS and Cult Of Luna with the band adapting to a more secluded style of Ambient Post-Rock for the more calmer sounds contained on the album. The four tracks on offer here showcase a band who aren't afraid to bring a more Alternative creative flow to their music. The music is always emotionally charged with a sense of moody intelligence behind the intense lyrics for the whole album.
Helve draws up a world-weary style of Post-Metal with that sombre Doom Metal heaviness that grows at a measured pace within the more Ambient and Psychedelic sounds the record contains throughout. To Be Forgotten does take some time for the sludgier and post-metal aspects to appear with the haunting melodies of the excellent opening track Dark Clouds. The track is perhaps classed Post-Rock for the first half with an ice-cold atmosphere and slowly played guitars. When the vocals appear, Helve start drafting in areas of heavier music which expand into a primal Sludge/Post-Metal force where brutality and beautiful melodic sludgy guitars go hand-in-hand for the band to venture into areas of music that remind me of Fall Of Efrafa at times.
Second song Guns Heal The Sick wastes no time delivering a more aggressive and raw style of Post-Metal with harsh vocals adding a Crust Punk environment for Helve to build their sound further upon. The lyrics are violently bleak and have a raw sense of honesty to them. The instrumental work is impressive indeed with DIY leaning production values just adding to the Crust Punk element of the whole song. There's a great use of distorted sounds that feels quite "Alternative" and "Shoegaze" in places but this still retains a vibrant Post-Metal sound.
Third song The Bones Of Giants combines Psychedelic backdrops and Post-Rock themes for a song that works amazingly well as an instrumental piece for the first half of the song. Ambient rhythms and extended sludgy grooves appear around the halfway mark with Helve experimenting with their sound that does have a strong ISIS influence within. Vocals are a mixture of harsh growls and background based clean vocals that gives a thrilling "LIGHT vs DARK'' illusion that doesn't deter from the intense instrumental sounds but only adds to the overall effect.
Final song Teeth is an absolute monster of a track running for almost twenty minutes in length. The track comes across like a Post-Rock/Post-Metal mini-opera with the track having different styles of music that can easily be condensed into multiple chapters. The song is wonderfully bleak and aggressive again with the lo-fi production values once again adding a murky style of music that Helve ultimately thrive upon. Intricate sounds, harsh growls and Ambient driven Psychedelic grooves is where I found the most enjoyment of this track. As Helve delivers an original blend of Post-Rock, Psychedelic Metal and Ambient Post-Rock which is all held together by that ferocious Sludge/Post-Metal sound that Helve ultimately excels at.
To Be Forgotten is an exciting, bold, brash and quite frankly an outstanding slice of Doom/Post-Metal that allows Helve to be considered another thrilling addition to the UK Doom/Post-Metal/Sludge Metal scene.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Ripcord Records for the promo.
To Be Forgotten will be available to buy on CD/DD via Ripcord Records from September 29th 2023.
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