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Hellveto are one of those bands I heard about, but never heard until now. I was expecting some fast, angry Black Metal in the vein of old Enslaved maybe, but this release really surprised me with style and grace and a lot of epic sweep. Incredibly, this is one of four full-length albums released by this one-man metal machine last year, with two each also for 2005 and 2004. If they are all this good, then all 10 albums put out in the last 5 years should be worth investigating.

It's hard to pin down anyone that Hellveto sounds like. There is certainly a base in such epic Black Metal bands as Graveland or Himinbjorg, with a melodic flash that makes me think of Blodsrit or Belenos. The heavy and harsh attack is leavened by a riff-oriented approach with the guitars, and a lot of keys and acoustics to break it up. Vocals range from a more standard scream to an intoned or even roughly sung approach. The keys are not used offensively, and only add to the epic feel of the whole thing.

I'm really impressed by this, and Hellveto is going to have to be added to my list of bands who I want to get more material from. This is excellent music that is reaching beyond the confines of simple BM genre work and creating a new sound of its own. Pick this one up by all means.