Review Summary: Helm combine the best parts of post metal with accessible alternative rock hooks to create a very, very impressive debut.
Good, locally bred post metal is hard to come by in Australia, with most bands seemingly happy to channel genre stalwarts Isis and Cult of Luna without infusing any of their own ideas. Helm, a five piece (four at time of recording) hailing from the Gold Coast, are one of the few groups doing something different, dabbling in sounds ranging from melodic rock to post metal and everything in between.
Vol. 1: Keelhaul, the band’s debut, is a near perfect record, quite an impressive feat given they only got together towards the end of 2007.
Featuring just as many mellow, atmospheric moments that bring to mind latter day Anathema as they do heavy, crushing parts that hark back to Cult of Luna classic
Salvation, Helm have got their sound down pat on just their first release. The last genre one would pick four tradies from the Gold Coast to be playing. However, it is their unique take on post metal and alt rock that makes them stand out, not to mention the impressive song writing and ability. This is something that is shown on every track on the record (see album highlights ‘Salt’ and ‘Release The Eagles’).
At the centre of all this is lead vocalist/guitarist Lucas Stone, the main songwriter in the band. The vocals of Stone add an extra dimension to every song, with the man possessing one of the more impressive voices this reviewers ever heard. Traversing with ease from melodic vocals that could easily be found on The Butterfly Effect’s
Begins Here to Cult of Luna like roars, Stone’s huge range gives Helm that extra spark, setting them apart from the plethora of post metal bands around at the moment. The best example of this is the closer, ‘Death Valley,’ where it’s sludgy feel gives Stone the perfect medium to let loose, producing the heaviest moment on the record.
The dual guitarist set-up used by Helm on
Keelhaul enhances their sound greatly by filling the songs out and creating a much denser atmosphere. This is something the songs greatly benefit from; see examples such as ‘Death Valley’ or ‘Salt’, a nine minute epic full of ebbs and flows. Neither Stone or Scott Ireland ever really take lead but they still manage still avoid making the songs boring by playing off one another, moving from intense heavy sections to more mellowed parts.
On first listen,
Keelhaul is going to be quite daunting for most given the average track length is about seven minutes. Even brooding lead single ‘Release The Eagles’ clocks in at six and a half minutes, its raw emotion producing one of the albums best tracks. Despite the length, Helm succeed in holding the listeners attention for the duration of the album, with plenty of ‘wow’ moments to boot. This is what makes
Keelhaul such an impressive album, every single song has something special about it, be it the crushing opening of psuedo-first track ‘This’ or Matt Wilton’s drumming on ‘One Small Step From Grace’ or even the haunting picked guitar of ‘Your Shadow.’ It is these moments that will have listeners coming back to
Keelhaul, finding something new each time. For Helm to achieve this on their debut release is a testament to their ability.
On
Keelhaul, Helm have managed to achieve what a plethora of bands have failed to do before them, that is create their own unique brand of post metal. Moving through genres ranging from stoner rock to progressive metal, Helm have carved out one of the best debut albums to come out of Australia in years. Bringing together influences from the likes of Cult of Luna and The Butterfly Effect has given Helm a degree of accessibility, while still being complex enough for the diehards. Given the talent on display, it’s really no surprise that with
Keelhaul, Helm have created one of the better metal albums to come out of Australia in the last few years.
