Band:	Helangar
Album:	Schlafes Bruder
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	September 2005

01. Schlafes Bruder
02. Praeludium
03. Geburt - Des Lebens Lied
04. Das Wunder Seines Hörens
05. Die Gadenzeit
06. Herzens' Sturm
07. Mitternacht
08. In Wehmut
09. Dämmerung
    1 - Greis Des Lebens
    2 - Am Wilden Bach
    3 - Sein Ende
    4 - Der Chor Der Engel
    5 - Hinfort

Nicely crafted

Talking about a radical style change. I tried the debut album from German outfit Helangår some years ago, and I was really surprised when I listened their sophomore effort. This used to be a Viking Metal band with male vocals and lyrics about mythology, sung in English. Now they have a female vocalist, they don't play Viking Metal anymore, they don't sing in English anymore and they most definitively dropped the lyrical subject.

So, how does this sound? Well it sounds quite "epic" if you ask me, female vocals entangled in long and versatile compositions, with hints of Gothic and maybe Folk Metal, due to the fact that the band uses instruments such as cello and accordion. Vocals are a strong asset in the band, the vocalist, Lisa Klank (globalization! A Colombian singer in a German band) does a terrific job with her sweet but powerful vox. Some harsh vocals are also included in some songs, which gives more depth to the music.

But the thing that really attracts me about this record is the songwriting, the songs don't follow the basic structure of many songs, you can find tempo changes, opposed sections, aggressive bits, melodic parts, catchy choruses etc.

The album is also a concept album based on the popular best-seller book by Robert Schneider, Schlafes Bruder (Brother of Sleep). It tells the story of Johannes Elias Alder, a young talented musician who at the age of 22, decides to end his life by not sleeping anymore.

This is a release that takes a couple of spins to digest, the long and sometimes intricate compositions are something that you learn to appreciate in time, so don't expect love at first sight here. Bright future for this band I foresee, only God knows how will their next album will sound like.