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Everyone knows that metal styles are no longer moored to geography. Norway may produce lots of black metal and NOLA may produce lots of sludge, but you can find those styles pretty much anywhere else, too.
Still, genre markings often indicate homeland, and it’s tempting to take them at face value. When you open Helcaraxë’s Bandcamp, the following indicators scream “Europe” (and “Germany” in particular) louder than white linen capris on a man:
-Blaring, fresh-off-the-Tor-Books-presses dragon cover art
-Scrolly logo
-Unpredictable umlaut in the band name
-An older album titled Broadsword
-The Bandcamp tags: death metal, dragon, hobbit, melodic, progressive
And then there’s the last Bandcamp tag: New Jersey.
That this Tolkien-themed progressive melodeath band hails from the least epic place in North America is Helcaraxë’s first surprise. The second is that guitarist and chief songwriter Bill Henderson was a founding member of the emo band Thursday. (Vindictive purists, you may close this browser tab now.) The third and most important surprise is that Red Dragon is actually really good.
“Really good” isn’t an adjectival phrase that I have much occasion to apply to melodic death metal these days. Perhaps that’s why this album is hitting me as hard as it is—this style’s few remaining stalwarts are polished, thrashy, and synth-happy. These qualities do not appeal to me.
By contrast, Helcaraxë brings genuine grit and guts to the table. I’m reminded of Eucharist and Amorphis, bands that should’ve played a much larger role in setting the tone for the style. I’m reminded even more strongly of Edge of Sanity’s Crimson: by Red Dragon’s one-long-song format, by the beefy rhythms (no thrash here), and by vocalist Jesse Traynor’s raw bellow.
This album came out late last year to a chorus of crickets. It’s a shame—I would’ve liked to see it rekindle an interest in this rougher, uglier vision of melodeath. IO commenter Andy Synn and I recently had an exchange in which he gave contemporary melodeath a clean bill of health. I demurred at the time; if there were more bands like Helcaraxë out there, I might be more inclined to agree with him.
-Doug Moore
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Really enjoyed this, great find, thanks.
You gently mock but I wager “genuine grit and guts” = the NJ factor. Thanks, chemical refineries!
Their split with Father Befouled is so good.
I’d submit that they are NJ’s finest metal band and have been for some time now.
I like that they named the record “Red Dragon” in case you can’t tell there’s a giant goddamn red dragon on the cover. Or maybe they had already spent months dreaming up the striking and evocative title (Red Dragon: it practically sings itself) and they needed the perfect image to fit such a singular name: “Hey, how about a giant goddamn red dragon?”
(Teasing aside, these tunes rule.)
Glad that the recent influx of hardcore posts doesn’t mean that IO will no longer be covering bands that write about hobbits and dragons.
As for the music itself, melodeath (for me at least) is all about the maidenesque lead guitar wizardry, and this band appears to have that covered just fine. Don’t think I’d run out and buy this, but in the unlikely event that they played a venue near me, I would go.
I can’t figure out why this band isn’t huge. They are probably the best band playing this style today. That isn’t an exaggeration.
Thursday? Seriously??