Hel’s Throne – Ravens Flight REVIEW

January 2022 – Dublin

I am going to travel to Germany again, but this time I won’t review any old school or power metal band, that this country is so famous for. Instead, I am reviewing something different, a genre that you barely hear in Germany – symphonic metal. What’s more, Ravens Flight album is based on the Nordic mythology which you don’t see quite often either.

To understand how Hel’s Throne was founded, how their musical ideas were born and how they took a different musical path other than German bands alike, I joined an interview at D Metal Galaxy with the band itself. Thanks to this, I learned a lot about how Hel’s Throne musical journey was shaped.

In this review I will discuss a few aspects of the Raven Flights album such as music, artwork/lyrics, videos and in the end there will be a summary.

MUSIC

Despite being founded three years ago, the band could be categorised as an old school symphonic metal. In this album you won’t find any modern influences such as electronic elements, which is quite refreshing. Don’t get me wrong, I love to hear modern symphonic metal, but it is great when a band makes a very conscious decision to create a specific music style.

Despite being heavily influenced by symphonic metal there isn’t a song that can be referenced to another band. Moreover, every track has a different musical composition. This is quite impressive as there are so many symphonic metal bands out there. According to me, one key factor of Hel’s throne is Rebekka Schulze’s voice. It is quite different from any other sopranos I have heard before and this is a huge compliment as this is a genre I have grown up to and thus have heard hundreds of symphonic metal bands.

Another factor that might have helped the band as well is their background as a cover band. Impersonating other bands and the desire to do something else and create their own material might have been the strong foundation for this.

Next thing that is so great about this band is Litze. He has quite a different background than other members. He is basically the only one in the band who is into extreme metal genres which adds an extra dimension to Hel’s Throne.

In short, Ravens Flight is excellent from a music perspective as it is nowhere repetitive.

“I HAVEN’T SEEN ANY BAND SO PASSIONATE ABOUT SYMPHONIC METAL AS HEL’S THRONE”

ARTWORK / Lyrics

The artwork is very fitting as it matches the lyrics and the core theme of the music – Hel from the Nordic Mythology. As a result, you have an idea what the songs will be about. Furthermore, being so coherent it will be very reason to remember and visualise it after a time, what Hel’s Throne was about. To illustrate the artwork, it consists of a raven and the style of the text resembles Nordic mythology, which I think is very fitting.

VIDEOS

Ravens Flight is accompanied by a teaser and two videos. The teaser video is a great one as the fire and colours resemble Nordic Mythology and “Hel”. It offers also an overview of the musical elements that have been used on Ravens Flight.

The next video is “Mistress of Eternity”, which is a lyric video. In my opinion, the images perfectly fit with the music as the letters are coherent with the melody and the snowy background reminds us again of Nordic mythology.

The last video is related to the self-titled song “Ravens Flight”. This song handles the “Raven Element”, which is of course fitting as the song is called, it basically visualises the Raven on the front cover. What’s more, this song offers a look inside the kitchen of Hel’s Throne as you are meeting all members of the bands.

SUMMARY

Summarising everything, Ravens Flight is an excellent album, especially taking into account it is Hel’s Throne first album. The nordic mythology and Hel are incorporated in every way possible. Each song is unique in its own way. Making this album certainly worthwhile to listen to track by track.


“RAVENS FLIGHT IS AN ALBUM FULL OF SMALL DETAILS”
MAIr