Hellsaw – Cold (2009)

This Austrian band plays a very unique blend of Black Metal. It’s harsh, melodic and sometimes even groovy. The combination of styles makes “Cold” a very entertaining album to listen to. I must admit that I was moving my head up and down with most of the songs of this album, since they provide a prefect combination of brutality and melody that I rarely hear from Black Metal bands.

“Cold” is the band’s third full length album and it show how they have been evolving since playing mainly harsh Black Metal to a more balances but equally aggressive style. Musically this band has a lot to offer, this two man outfit manages to create a cold and depressive atmosphere only rellying on distorted guitars and blast beats that rival any other band of the genre.

In some parts this band reminds me of old Ancient and with some hints of Immortal on the aggressive parts. The vocals are perfectly laid out providing the necessary fuel for this destructive machine they don’t vary too much but they do provide the occasional bone chilling scream. There are even some parts of clean vocals that sound perfect with the music.
In my opinion the band’s strong point is the ability to provide very aggressive music with occasional interludes of melody, adding an extra dimension to this band sound. Keyboards are never needed in these songs, and they are only used on the last song “Subterranean Empire”.

Overall this release is very refreshing to hear a harsh Black Metal put in a more melodic content, and the experimentation in some songs (“Psycho Pastor”) pays off by creating an entertaining and different album that does not loose its harshness and brutality.

Country: Austria