“Helms Deep is the brainchild of vocalist and guitarist Alex Sciortino, and the project is his personal love letter to classic heavy metal. Helms Deep recalls the olden NWoBHM majesty of bands like Angel Witch and Satan while simultaneously channeling the epic power of early Savatage.” So it begins…
“According to Colony Drop’s Bandcamp page, the band’s motto is “High Speed, Twin Lead.” This isn’t just a promise that gets my heart all aflutter; it’s also an honest declaration. Time and time again, you’ll hear this maxim take mighty musical form on Brace for Impact, often to crushing effect.” Space must be colonized!
“The main problem with death metal is that it’s boring as hell. That may seem rich coming from The Guy Who You Know Exists Only Because of His Profuse Writing About Death Metal, but that’s also why you’re here, isn’t it? You know death metal is boring. If you wanted to listen to boring-ass death metal, you would just do it. Instead, you come here to read articles written by over-educated losers who let you know ahead of time which records manage to make death metal not boring. Spread Plague Death is not one of them.” Zzzzzeath.
“When you read “melodic death metal,” what do you think of? If your answer is “thrashy power metal with more chugging and harsh vocals” you’re not alone. I frequently avoid bands with the melo-death tag because that niche of the subgenre has a shallow well of inspiration and grows old quickly. Too often do I forget that Kataklysm is a melo-death band, and Sorcery is a melo-death record, likewise with At the Gates’ With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness. Both of these are the furthest thing from the cheesy version of melo-death. Thanks to The Nightmare of Being I’ve been on somewhat of a melo-death kick lately, which prompted me to take a chance on Canadian one-man band Dungeon Serpent and their debut record World of Sorrows.” Snakes in the Sorcery room.
