HellLight - We, The Dead

HellLight is a doom metal band from Brazil, who formed in 1996. Their latest release, “We, The Dead,” is their eight full-length album; they have also released a demon, a EP, a compilation, and a live album. 

I’m late to this band’s gorgeously morose brand of doom; I didn’t discover them until their previous album, “Until The Silence Embraces.” I wish I had discovered them a lot earlier but better late than never. Their music is very much funeral doom but it can also be Gothic and quite melodic in places. It’s so dark and unforgiving yet there is an odd sense of beauty to their music as well. “We, The Dead,” continues to add layers to an already engaging sound and might just be their best album yet.

As with any funeral doom band, their music is about as slow as glacier–maybe even slower. But, for me at least, that is the appeal of the album; I love the way it slowly unfurls itself, like the last vestiges of sunlight fading out as time gives way to the ever approaching night. The riffs lay very heavily upon the atmosphere—they are quite intense and depressive but offset by Gothic melodies that lace the songs with melancholic dirges. All this makes for a compelling listen because it’s heavy yet gentle all at the same time without focusing too much on either one.  

The album’s use of keys is impressive too and can’t be discounted—the instrument is just as important to the band as the others. They aren’t flashy or sweeping but their subtle use is clever. 

The opening keys on “Echoes of Eons,” add so much to the song that it isn’t even possible to think of it otherwise. As they do here, the keys often time precede the use of a melodic line or a riff that sinks into the song’s foundation. When music is this slow and textured, all the elements must lock into place. After the 7:33 mark, the guitars fade for the keys to fade in; it’s nice the instruments share the burdens of the song and compliment each other so.

The bass on “Echoes of Eons,” is fantastic; it keeps the song move forward no matter how heavy or lithe the band gets—it finds itself at home in any situation and I feel that’s an element of the bass guitar that is sometimes lost on a lot of doom metal bands.

Liminal spaces cry out from the ambient tones of “Desperate Cry,” one of the songs on the album that best showcases the band’s goals for the albums. As the keys cast their emotional net, the guitar and drums begin their ascent to the song—being, at first, nothing more than a quiet moment but soon grows to a loud rumble. I’m impressed how heavy this song is yet it’s not overly aggressive. 

This song seems to reach out for a climax; the clawing of the dead back towards the land of the living. The struggle is real, the song grasping for an edge but instead falling back into the abyss with a wonderful clean section. The lead guitar opens the path once again, the song riding high on the lead guitar as it weaves breathtaking incantations. 

The title track serves as an interlude, dividing the album into two halves with each having three songs. This is clever track placement but, regardless, the song stands on its own as a somber piece with clean vocals that still haunt long after the song fades out.

The final, and longest, song on the album is “The Last March,” and it just might be my favorite. The beginning is hopeless and even horrific; the funeral keys and bass create a potent mix of raw emotions. The death growls, which are among the best in the scene, grasp a tight hold on the song but one that carries as much weight as any of the instruments. 

Peaks of aggression, mostly through the drums and the vocals, rise among the minutes before falling into the darkness below. The skeletons left behind are damaging, reminders of the fragility of it all. Around the 11:37 mark, emotive cleans ride out among the dead as the song ends itself on clean notes.

HellLight’s “We, The Dead,” is one of the best example of funeral doom this year but I’d expect nothing less from these masters who continue to further their craft year after year.  

Rating: Excellent