review: Helvetets Port

Helvetets Port

From Life to Death

High Roller Records

23.08.2019

Helvetets Port, says Metal Archives, was silent for ten years, more or less. Their previous album is from 2009, and they did an EP in 2010.

Helvetets Port is a Swedish band that looks to the past in order to find its purpose towards the future. This year is 2019, but by the sounds of it they have no interest in trying to play contemporary styles of European and American metal that may be popular, and instead they have in mind the year 1979, and also 1980, 1982, but probably no later than 1982, and to think of 1983 might be too late for their tastes. Their heavy metal is that 1979 spirit between the new sound that had been forming in the previous few years that was heavy, but the bands did not make the songs sound the same. It was hard rock and progressive rock, without feeling like there was a huge contradiction in playing both.

The band has mostly songs in English, but they do some in Swedish. Their sound is traditional heavy metal the oldie goldie style with a progressive side. Fans will notice the love of the 1979-1982 New Wave of British Heavy Metal and of the classics in general. Given the style of the band, there is probably one old 1970s/1980s band that Helvetets Port tips its hat to and they don’t have to look far because the band is right there in their home country: Heavy Load, the Swedish band whose debut is from 1978 (recorded in 1977).

This album is 57 minutes, and it takes time to understand what the band is doing. At first you might think it is just traditional heavy metal, but as you listen more closely the peculiarities of the band will be clearer. The old proggy segments, the vibe of old heavy metal, these things will come to the forefront. Then it’s when their mixing of 1970s and early 1980s will show more as their style. The album is long because they were baking it for close to ten years. We’ll be hearing from Helvetets Port in another decade.

facebook.com/HelvetetsPort/