Finland is quickly starting to catch up with Sweden as the hotbed for metal these days on the International scene. Hevein have the potential to be a breakout band for a few reasons. One thing right off the bat is they write good metal songs brimming with brutality yet with lots of commercial appeal and progressive experimentation. The second thing, and the one that will certainly set them apart from many other bands, is the fact that they have a full-time cello player in the form of Max Lilja, who many will know from Apocalyptica. His mere presence gives Hevein an extremely unique sound, adding that classical touch to their mix of melodic death metal, gothic, and progressive elements.
After a few listens to Sound Over Matter, it's pretty apparent that this band has the goods to really take off, especially in the US. Vocally, they are firing on all cylinders, as tracks like "Break Out the Hammers" and "iOta" have plenty of catchy hooks, mixing melo-death, metalcore, and gothic tinged vocals with crushing guitars, keyboards, and blazing cello runs. Think Kansas-meets-Dark Tranquility-meets-Trivium. Sounds intriguing huh? Well, it certainly is. In addition to the many metal sounds, there's also the Pink Floyd meets HIM melancholy of "As Far As The Eye Can See", a real charmer that you'll be humming for hours, and not just the vocal melodies, but the cello lines as well. Fans of the Swedish melodic death scene will love "Bleed the Day", a brutal piece with crushing guitars, manic rhythms, growls and clean vocals, and orchestral keyboards. There's even a gorgeous little acoustic guitar & cello instrumental called "New Hope", which is really a work of art and will leave you feeling all fuzzy inside, not to mention a raging and epic progressive metal track called "Last Drop of Innocence", which contains plenty of spooky keyboard textures, haunting cello, and moody vocals.
My suggestion is this-get your hands on Sound Over Matter quickly, and be the first person on the block to say you have heard the future of gothic and melodic death metal. These guys are going to be big folks, I can feel it.
Track Listing
1) Break Out the Hammers
2) Worth Fighting For
3) iOta
4) As Far As the Eye Can See
5) Only Human
6) Bleed the Day
7) Beg to Differ
8) Hold Fast
9) New Hope (instrumental)
10) Last Drop of Innocence
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