Heleven – New Horizons Pt 1 – 2023

New Horizons Pt 1 is and album by Heleven from 2023. Heleven is a new acquaintance for me. Although I think I heard the band name before, I don’t think Iä’ve actually heard the band. Surely not this album anyway. 

I was a bit surprised when the introduction heavy drums and inventive guitar riffs was transferred into something that was not growling or aggressive vocals. I’m not sure what this genre of metal is called but I consulted Chat gpt and it suggested “Modern Metal” or “Progressive Metal”. I think that is pretty vague and I’m not sure if I trust AI to that extent either. But to be perfectly clear, there’s no heavy growls or aggressive vocals of any kind on New Horizons Pt 1.

I’m neither really sure if I like that or not. I feel like there’s something missing form the sound image. I think I would have like som more aggression, even though I’m not a big fan of growling. But in this case it feels a bit uninvolving of the listener. Which in turn means that I can’t remember anything specific from New Horizon Pt 1 immediately after I finished listen to it. Thatäs never a good sign. 

But on the same time I can’t say I’m disappointed. So, what does that mean? I guess it means that New Horizon Pt 1 lands at a kind of mediocre level to me. It didn’t really give me anything.