Decadent Noir music is the description of this third album by Helfir- the brainchild of Luca Mazzotta.
To summarise what this appears to mean on first listen is a gentle brooding mix of electronica and rock – imagine a less dancy VnV Nation jamming with Porcupine Tree after listening to recent Gary Numan and you will get the darkened picture. For due diligence –hark at me- I tracked back and checked out 2017’s release The Human Defeat. This was a more metallic affair with definite tips of the velvet top hat to Paradise Lost. This Journey is a more sedate, fog shrouded affair.
Opener “The Game” is a dreamy dark electronic first step that channels the aforementioned Mr Numan and Visage with some proggy edges which bleed over into “In My Dream” which swaps the synths for acoustic and electric guitars.
“The Past” brings metal into the mix with swathes of gothic harmonies and big proggy riffs. This really sets the tone of the album.
The Journey is an album to listen to in a craggy hotel atop a cliff overlooking an angry sea. It is gentle and atmospheric in places but employs drama that lifts each track out of its ambient slumber.
“In the Pale Land” has an eerie Celtic folk ambience that wafts eerily across my speakers before a Carpeneteresque tune brings in “The Gathering”. As a Halloween movie fan I am drawn straight in and the progtastic dark track it lays over does not disappoint.
This album is aptly named. It feels like a journey through sadness and hope. Mazotta’s voice carries a great balance of melody and gravitas and at times you can almost pick up a slight slur as if he were sat nursing a glass of red by a fire lamenting love lost.
In many ways “The Journey” feels like a dark story telling set to music and my first impressions have been accented by a further appreciation for Helfir’s song construction. I could run through all eleven tracks with comparisons to other acts – bit of Pink Floyd here, some Moonspell there , but the best thing to do is jump in .
Immerse yourself in the rich soft warmth of this sanguine release. It ain’t perfect but it could help you get through the current plague.
(7.5/10 Matt Mason)
09/11/2020 at 5:11 pm
Great review, thanks a lot Matt.