(written by Islander)
On November 1st the Danish metal band Helge will release their sophomore album Gidinawendimin. They explain that the album’s title “is an ancient word from the Ojibwe people that means ‘we are all related.'” If it seems strange that a modern-day Danish band would be drawing upon the culture of an ancient North American indigenous people for inspiration, you’ll learn today that it’s not the only non-European touchstone for the band.
And while it’s fair to say that most bands who perform amalgams of black and death metal (as Helge do) tend to focus on dark and even nihilistic themes, this group has a different bent: it seems they might actually be promoting positive spiritual uplift.
For example, the song from the new album that we’re premiering today, along with an exhilarating music video, is called “Keep the Fire Burning“. It’s the song that ends the album, and lyrically it exhorts listeners to “stand aside from ego”, to forsake anger and poison, to “return to the core of the spirit,” and thus to become reborn, and to rise.
The song also includes chants of the famous Hindu mantra “Om Namah Shivaya“, which seems to have many meanings but (based on our research) can be understood as a prayer to Shiva to help overcome such worldly passions as greed, anger, and lust, and to bring peace, clarity, and inner strength.
But lest the two preceding paragraphs make you think the music is going to be light, rose-colored, and/or dreamily meditative, you’ll know better very soon. Though spiritually inspired, this is still black and death metal — and a very dynamic and multifaceted expression of such dark arts.
The song’s opening is very dark indeed, a mid-paced experience of coldly crashing chords and wailing notes, of heavily throbbing bass and gut-punching drums, of vicious snarls and tormented screams.
But the song begins to transform, and to become even more intense, thanks to gargantuan guttural roars and riffing that sears and sweeps. There’s no loss of intensity when singing arrives and soars, as the drums blast away and the guitars vividly swirl and swarm.
Dark grandeur looms in the music again as the band reprise the song’s opening segment — and then the deep, solemn chanting begins, accompanied by the primitive pounding of a hand-drum, gasping whispers, and eerie reverberations.
When the music swells and burns again, and the vocals snarl and scream once more, it’s harrowing to hear, yet at the end the singing rises again, the drums furiously batter, and a musical conflagration slashes and roils. Despite the lyrical invocations, or maybe in line with them, the finale is seriously dark and driving, with a kind of defiant urgency in the mood.
We’ll also share a comment about the song from guitarist/songwriter Helge Nørbygaard:
“With the “Om Namah Shivaya” chanting and heavy riffs, ‘Keep The Fire Burning‘ is a very powerful song. Be strong whatever hits you in life, find the your inner fire and keep it burning. Focus on the now!”
The video, which includes film of Helge both on and off stage, was made by Daniel Sandbæk Christensen.
(P.S. YouTube is the only location where you can listen to the song now; its appearance on streaming services will come later.)
Gidinawendimin includes 9 songs in all. It also includes female guest vocals by folk singer Nanna Barslev and from Sonja Rosenlund Ahl (of Panzerchrist), as well as a guest performance by Inger Juhl (Kellermensch) on cello.
The album was mixed and mastered by producer Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, U.D.O., The Black Dahlia Murder, Invocator), and it will be available to stream and purchase on November 1st (no pre-orders) via the links below.
Also below we’re including a stream of the first single and opening song from the new album, “Den Indre Ild” (“the inner fire”), which is presented through a beautiful and haunting video.
This one actually is dreamlike and meditative — at first — and then it will blow off the top of your head and put your heart in your throat. A glorious and celestial epic, it also has its own very dark and devastating moments, and again makes striking use of both Helge‘s varying vocal array and their visceral rhythmic punch.
BANDCAMP:
https://helgeofficialband.bandcamp.com/
SPOTIFY:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/38ZcUJWxVQZWS8kkFlN74z
FOLLOW HELGE:
https://www.facebook.com/helgeofficialband
https://www.instagram.com/helgeofficialband