Last year I reviewed the debut album by Helms Deep, the trio formed by vocalist/guitarist Alex Sciortino. Somehow, he managed to convince bassist/singer John Gallagher (Raven) and drummer Mike Heller (Raven, Malignancy) to join the fun, and the result was good old fashioned American Power Metal combined with NWOBHM, and bloody excellent it is too. While ‘Treacherous Ways’ was being tracked, Sciortino felt inspired and wrote eleven songs for the follow-up, which is what we have here. At the time I did wonder how they were going to reproduce this in a live environment as the twin guitars are so important, and the band has now been expanded to a four-piece. While Gallagher has remained, Sciortino has now enlisted drummer Hal Aponte (Ice Age) for “a more organic and progressive feel” and brought in his guitar uncle and teacher from his early years, Ray DeTone (Paul Di’Anno’s Killers) on second guitar.
This album feels less American and more NWOBHM than the debut and is far more basic than what I expected. That it is pleasant is never in doubt, and if I were in a small club I am sure I would be gently nodding my head to the beat, but whether I want to play this repeatedly when having never experienced the band in concert is another matter altogether. There is just no drive, and I am not sure what Alex was expecting from his drummer but there are times when I can feel I could have done just as well, and I have never sat behind a drum kit. Alex’s vocals do come across better than the debut, and Gallagher is used in a Glenn Hughes manner behind Coverdale in that when it is time to go really high, he is there adding his vocals to the mix.
Having enjoyed the debut I was looking forward to this one, but there needs to be a rethink before the next, if there is one. They need a drummer who wants to drive the band forward and just not sit there with a cymbal and snare being a timekeeper and little else, while the arrangements themselves are dated and could have come from any band signed to the Neat label back in the day, but to be honest I would prefer to listen to most of them from 45 years ago than this.
Rating: 6/10
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/HelmsDeep666
https://www.facebook.com/NamelessGraveRecords/