Young Californian duo Helion Prime was founded in 2014. At the beginning of last year they self-released their debut album and started looking for a record label. Mission accomplished! The start of 2017 was lucky for them, as AFM Records officially released their debut without any extra production. The only thing that was different was that they add The Drake Equation EP as a bonus.
The record is sung by Heather Michele Smith, who formed a band with Jason Ashcraft, but she left the band last year. It will be interesting to hear how the next album is going to sound, when Kayla Dixon comes in her place. We’ll see about that when the time comes.
What emerged from this record is pretty solid, besides the obvious quest for identity. Helion Prime combined power and heavy metal, hand and melodic rock, pop and progressive ideas. Anyhow, there is nothing serious to castigate here as the concept works as a whole. They are young and they still need to learn. Ambient is a bit disconnected from the lyrics centered around the theme of fiction. What lacks is a bit more drama and trauma, even a bit of horror. Anyhow, it is coherent altogether.
Considering that they did not have a budget for expensive studio, the production sounds loud and clear. Heather’s vocals are cool, calm, cold and collected, even though she occasionally sounds too shallow to follow the powerful guitars. My recommendation is to always support the main vocal with background vocals.
Maturity strikes from piano sections and memorable choruses. The opening track Into The Alien Terrain contains futuro-dramatic moments, while The Drake Equation is a melodic metal song with aggressive guitars and rapid drums. Pop and rock segments rule over Into The Black Hole, while Life Finds Way is a true baby metal scheme.
The milestone of the record comes with ambient ballade A Place I Thought I Knew. My favorite is You Keep What You Kill, an intrusive number with beauty and the beast style of singing (screaming woman and growling man). Oceans of Time is a substantial melodic power metal with neo-classic piano solo. Orchestrations are prominent on Live and Die On This Day.
The present is solid. Let’s see what material the future will bring for Helion Prime.
