Helheim are a band from Norway that has had music reviewed before in t his zine and plays a pagan form of black metal and this is a review of their 2003 album "Yersinia Pestis" which will be re-issued in August, 2026 by Nomad Snakepit Productions.
The sounds of the Viking era of Norway start off the album along with some spoken words before adding in some industrial style beats before going into a heavier direction. When the music speeds up a great amount of tremolo picking and blast beats can be heard which also gives the songs more of a raw feeling.
Melodies are also added into some of the guitar riffing while the songs also add in a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts. Vocals are done in more of an angry black metal style which mixes both the first and second wave eras of the genre together mixed in with some screams and keyboards are also used at times.
When clear vocals are utilized they add in touches of viking and pagan metal along with the songs also adding in a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts. When guitar solos and leads are utilized they also bring in more of an aggressive metal style as well as some tracks also bringing in a small amount of clean playing, growls can also be heard briefly. The production sounds very raw and heavy while the lyrics are written in a mixture of Norwegian and English and cover Norse Mythology.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Hellheim and if you are a fan of old school pagan black metal, you should check out this re-issue. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Yersinia Pestis" "Elde" "God Of Slander" and "Hjelmstorm". 8/5 out of 10.
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