Review HELVETETS PORT “Warlords”

What actually looks like a mixture of the Wasteland Warriors area at the W:O:A and the cover of Lizzy Borden’s “Menace to Society” release is actually the new artwork of Swedish metal formation Helvetets Port. “Warlords” is the title of their latest release and fortunately the music is much better than the artwork – and isn’t that what really counts?

The Swedes started in 2009 and released their debut album “Exodus to Hell”. After an EP, the second record “From Life to Death” was released in 2019 and the upcoming pandemic was a real barrier when it came to promoting the record. During this time when the world stood still, the band also had some extra time to write songs, and what ended up on “Warlords” shows a clear next step for the guys from Gothenborg.

It was a repertoire of partly older songs that fed “From Life To Death” its newly written songs that ended up on the band’s third longplayer. The music of the five-piece can be described as traditional heavy metal with some roots in NWoBHM. Guitars and melodies are the most prominent elements of Helvetets Port’s music, manifested in songs like “Cry of the Night”, but also the throbbing “Wasteland Warriors”.

Helvetets Port don’t stick to a repetitive standard approach in their songwriting and a track that shows the width of their musical vision is the slower and heavy pounding “Mutant March”. Equipped with a marching beat, the song sticks in your mind and reminds you of the mid-80s, when this kind of metal was at its peak.

Next, the guys switch gears with “Hårdför Överman” before tackling “Tyrants of Tokyo”.
“Warlords” has a great flow as the band varies when it comes to the sequencing of the song. There are the blistering headbangers like “Cry of the Night”, which is a counterpart to the moderate and melodic “Legions Running Wild”, which reminds me of the great Stormwitch days.

Atmosphere is what characterizes “Key to the Future”, a song that is deliberately different from “Golden Axe” and “2049”, the album’s closer.

Metalheads will love “Warlords” as it refers to a time when heavy metal grew and had its first heyday. Headbanging isn’t just recommended while listening to these songs. It is a must.