Album Review
Firtan – Helios
Scorching and Life-Giving Like the Sun
When you start listening to an album and find yourself instinctively nodding along, or when you are immediately drawn into its sound even though you are hearing the songs for the first time, you know that album has got it right. The new album from German black metal band Firtan, Helios, due for release on October 2, gave me exactly that feeling. As the band's fifth studio album, Helios more than lives up to the meaning of its name; like the sun itself, it carries an atmosphere that is both scorching and life-giving.
For those who are not yet familiar with the band, a little background information is in order before getting into the details of the album. Firtan are a successful band formed in Germany in 2010. While their early material leaned more toward pagan black metal, they have moved toward a more traditional black metal direction in recent years. Over time, they have blended their style with melodic elements and death metal influences, forging a distinctive and powerful identity of their own. Firtan had already caught my attention quite a bit through their collaborations with Ellende, and this latest effort surprised me just as much—entirely in a positive sense, of course.
I normally have the bad habit of picking out just a few favorite tracks from an album and rarely returning to the record as a whole afterward. But I can honestly say that I listened to this 12-track album from beginning to end three times, without getting bored for even a second.
Helios is an album that puts melodic details front and center while never straying from the harsh and uncompromising nature of black metal. I particularly loved the way some of the songs contain unpredictable passages that catch the listener off guard. In general, I am not particularly fond of female vocals or the timbres they bring to black metal, but I can easily say that the female vocal touches on this album never feel out of place within its sound.
In addition to being very impressed by the album's original compositions, I was absolutely thrilled to find a Bathory cover, "Man of Iron", on the tracklist. Among this rich 12-track selection, "Ambrosia", the title track "Helios", and "The Hierophant" stood out to me as tracks that absolutely deserve a place on your playlists. I would also like to draw your attention specifically to the performances by Phillip on vocals and David on drums on this album, whose musical quality I found highly impressive. I thought both of them were very, very successful.
In conclusion, Firtan have delivered one of the most mature and compelling releases of their discography with Helios. They have produced an album that will satisfy the band's longtime fans while also grabbing the attention from the very first second of metalheads like me who have only recently discovered the band. I am certain it will be one of the year's most noteworthy albums, so make sure it gets on your radar!
Stay metal!
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