HELION PRIME
Terror Of The Cybernetic Space Monster
AFM Records
5/5
Now this is something that I was completely side-swiped by, as I expressed in an earlier review that I was extremely displeased with the decision to replace Heather Michele Smith (now in Graveshadow, go check them out!) with Witch Mountain’s Kayla Dixon. For the lack of a better word, Dixon’s performance was quite terrible and I was not looking forward to the next one after hearing the one-off single “Remnants Of Stars.” Well, it would seem that the band took my review to heart, as they sacked Dixon after the single released and hired a male vocalist this time by the name of Sozos Michael. I honestly couldn’t be happier with this decision either, as the sound of the band has also changed quite a bit and seems to focus less on what I found to be modern core influence. In other words, they’ve adopted a fiery melodic power/thrash style that I feel suits the act tremendously. As much as I loved the band’s first effort, Terror Of The Cybernetic Space Monster rises several peaks above it.
Sozos Michael is a beast with absolutely no credits to his name other than this band. My guess is that he was found online in the magical way that these things happen and managed to blow the whole damn band away. I know good singing when I hear it and this guy really has pipes. They put those pipes to the test too, because the album ends with a nearly twenty minute tour-de-force in the title cut and even I was sweating during my inaugural listen of the piece. Not only that, but with more structural changes and crunch than the original effort, his skills are put to the test throughout the entire hour of music that this recording encompasses. The results are amazing, it is simply beyond me to even try to attempt to describe how well this one came off and it astounds me even now as I’m listening to the disc again while reviewing (a common practice of mine) just to be sure I didn’t miss anything. If you liked Blind Guardian’s thrashier days, then you’re going to find something here to love, I’ve no doubt of that. Though at the same time I can certainly say this change in sound and style may upset people looking for a more contemporary approach in which I’ve brought out the tiniest violin to console their sorrows.
Face it, this is the kind of roundhouse kick that the genre needed and that comes without overly technical mid-era Dragonforce moments, which I felt nearly ruined the genre as a whole in it’s gimmicky nature. Though technicality is still utilized to the benefit the performance, there’s no question that Helloween, Blind Guardian, Avantasia and numerous others had a hand in crafting this beast. Though what’s more, is that there have been no other lineup changes and these are the same musicians that composed the debut. I don’t think that many of you are going to believe that, given the reserved approach they took there, but these are the facts. This space monster is one-hundred percent the super-realized being that I knew Helion Prime could be. There’s not one cut on the album that I would consider a low-water mark and even the surprise ballad “Spectrum” doesn’t manage to disappoint me. As a matter of fact, it comes packed with such a potent chorus that I can’t help but consider it as equally memorable as the thrash-influenced space beasts on the rest of this record.
After this monolith, I’d very well consider Helion Prime one of the best power metal acts in the United States right now. Yes, you heard me right. That’s why I’ve given the disc a perfect score, because I haven’t quite heard anything this year that can top the amount of awesomeness that this record contains. I even think that this disc will be considered classic in another two decades. For a band that I thought I was going to dread beyond anything imaginable this time around, Helion Prime managed to surpass my expectations to the point of shattering them into small crystalline pieces. I’m still picking them up, you see.