Hellias 

A. D. Darkness

Thrashing Madness 2009

Thrash with dark metal touches is a classic combination on the latest album from Poland's Hellias.  Setting the magical mood of the album is the intro News Course which is a perfect set-up to the meaty riffs of the title track.  A forceful chorus of shouted vocals compliments the acidic vocals of Piotr.  A brutal, Sodom-esque crunch sets in before pealing back to reveal some dramatic clean vocals and strange hooks on Anathema Forest.  A catchy guitar lead with subtle keys and some playful drumwork anchor the song's closing section.  One thing that really sticks out during this period though is how triggered the bass drum is.  Stark string plinking and thoughtful clean vocals on Exposed brings to mind Wild Honey era Tiamat.  The same feeling can be translated to the album's closing track, Each Hour.  Huge, crunchy riffs disguise an almost black metal stream of flowing riffs and classical sounding guitar solos that follow on after the opening passage.  Lost in the Fate is a slow boiler with awkward riff changes and guitar harmonics and strange clean vocals and the whole songs seems like a jumble.  Whereas A. D. Martyrology is a ferocious thrashing punch to the face that echoes with some Slayer-ish attitude.  Hellias is a strange concoction of thrash and dark metal elements that sometimes plays strong and other times it feels a little awkward.  I think if Hellias stripped their style back from some of the more overt experiments with dark metal accents they would be a stronger band.