Review by Vladimir on September 2, 2024.

Swedish heavy metal band Helvetets Port became a highly acclaimed attraction in the realm of NWOTHM with their second full-length album From Life To Death, which was met with overwhelmingly positive fan and critical feedback that praised its elegant songwriting with such effective simplicity. From then on, the strong foundation was built from the ground up, and thus it would additionally hype up the fanbase who crave for more satisfaction. Some 5 years after it was released and after patiently waiting for the signs of the metal gods, we would finally be blessed with their third full-length album Warlords which was announced with a release date of September 6th, 2024 via High Roller Records. Now that half a decade has passed, was it worth waiting for this dangerous steel-jawed badass? Stay tuned to find out...

Following along from their predecessor From Life To Death in 2019, Helvetets Port yet again delivers a highly energetic and uplifting classic heavy metal extravaganza, filled with delightfully catchy riffs and epic choruses, with possibly the best vocal performance of Witchfinder so far. From the first two tracks 'Black Knight' and 'Wasteland Warriors', Warlords is already transforming into this guaranteed joyride on a rollercoaster that promises a lot of excitement and plenty of heavy metal attacks that will make you raise your fists in the air, but that is just the calm before the storm. Things get even more interesting with the third track 'Mutant March', which is a very slow and atmospheric song that really sets a different kind of mood from the rest, and it sort of lets you know that this album won't be following a specific pattern like one would expect, but rather that it will throw anything at you which might come out as a pleasant surprise. When the band published the whole tracklist of Warlords, there were a handful of songs I was very curious about due to their eye-catching titles, but one track in particular that drew the most attention was 'Tyrants Of Tokyo', which in its execution is like a wonderful mix between Cloven Hoof and Queensrÿche, and I can happily say that I was not left disappointed because a song with a title such as this should not allow itself to be lackluster. As the tradition goes with Helvetets Port, they usually provide some tracks in the Swedish language, and on this album, we have two of them, that being 'Hårdför Överman' and 'Helvete På Larvfötter', both of which are quite enjoyable and will not leave you feeling let down. The great thing about the album's progression is that it manages to keep its flow pretty smooth and consistent from start to finish, without becoming thinner as it transitions track by track, and it ends on a high note with the last track '2049' like placing the cherry on the top.

The songwriting of Helvetets Port always seemed balanced in terms of its execution because the simplicity is still met with plenty of dynamics in the songs, where you don't get the impression of a typical heavy metal songwriting approach as it tends to happen with the majority. In some ways, I felt like Warlords was exceptional in comparison to the previous two albums, especially because you can clearly tell that the band was looking for a way to spice things up and experiment with their songwriting without making any compromises. Obviously they put a lot of effort while working on Warlords, because you get some awesome headbangers on the entire album, and it was all done without repeating their past experiences with From Life To Death. On my first listening, I felt like the album was incredibly solid all the way through with its general direction and stylistic consistency that carries over from one track to another, but in some moments I was left a bit divided, as if some parts of the songs were missing an extra touch of excellence that would have made it feel incredibly outstanding as opposed to fairly enjoyable. It might be due to the fact that my overwhelmingly positive impression of the previous album From Life To Death was still relatively fresh, especially because a lot of the songs on that album had some sort of magic to them, and even though you could say the same for the majority of Warlords, some of them are just not as strong as you would have hoped for. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that the new album is weak in comparison, or that it lacks the necessary ingredients for a wonderful heavy metal experience, far from it, because you will always get a nice boost of testosterone and hunger for action with the most exceptional examples that this album offers. What really got me surprised about Warlords was the simplistic approach with the album cover which displays the entire band in a post-apocalyptic wasteland warriors attire, and I really like the overall Mad Max, Fallout, Borderlands aesthetics which goes hard with their classic heavy metal spirit. On the final note, this album has an excellent organic sound production which is a bar higher than its predecessor, and it's all the courtesy of Enforcer's Olof Wikstrand who put on his producer hat and successfully provided his studio magic.

I can safely say that Helvetets Port is back in style heavier than ever, and more hungry for power with their new album Warlords, which proved that it was worth the 5 years of waiting. I had no doubt that these guys would raise their fists of fury and bring down the thunder because they mean serious business and no one who opposes should dare to take it so lightly. I am still uncertain whether their new output tops the performance of From Life To Death, but it nevertheless manages to stand tall and proud on its own, both as an excellent album and as a strong continuation to its predecessor. Crank it up to eleven and enjoy the action-packed tunes of Warlords.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10

Review by Michael on September 20, 2021.

The mid-90s were (at least for me) a pretty cool time, especially when it comes to the music I discovered there. I remember that almost every month some pretty cool albums were released, especially when you think about the black metal scene. Of course, not only the Scandinavian scene was pretty strong at that time, but I guess they were the most influential in that part of the world. So, it is always nice to listen to the old stuff and feel a little bit nostalgic. I mean, back in these days you did not have any problems with your back nor you started counting your first grey hairs. Or things worse than this (though what is worse than grey hairs? Maybe no hairs…). For some time now, I was looking for new music that fills the gap between those old classics and the quite often not really catching releases (of course there are some exceptions, but most don't really impress me too much) of the pre-in between-post-vegetarian-drone-hippie-straight-edge-black metal scene nowadays. Dutch Schavot did a great job with the release of Galgenbrok but I have to confess that the album took some listening to to open up fully to me but ever since that I have to say that it plays quite often out of my stereo.

The album starts with an atmospheric and mystic intro which doesn't last too long and turns into a very melodic and catchy track soon enough. The riffs are sharp as blades and the drumming is quite fast and pummeling. The vocals are kept very aggressive and through the double-laid vocals (high-pitched and somewhat deep and demonical) there is certain evilness in it (and again, as I already stated in former reviews, the Dutch language makes up the rest). But through the often-used keyboards, the track keeps up a great atmosphere throughout. 'Galgenbult' reminds a lot of old Emperor or Satyricon mixed with some old Swedish black metal influences, especially through the mixture of the keyboards and the dramatic riffs combined with the spoken words. This is pure 90s worship! The following track 'Witte Juffer' starts quite atmospheric but; from minute 2 turns into a tribute to Zyklon B, if anybody remembers this cool Norwegian all-star band anymore. Very aggressive and again I have to confess that I didn't felt such a 90s vibe on a new album for a very long time. Another very sublime and atmospheric song is 'Moeratland' which a great keyboard arrangement and icy guitar riffs combined with galloping drums. The very catchy bridge is epic as fuck and makes me shiver from full of nostalgia again. 'Droglicht' is a track that could have been on "Nemesis Divina" by Satyricon. Here Schavot create this dense and thriving atmosphere that Satyr and Co. recorded on their 1996 output. This is really another greatly outstanding track, but all the compositions are worth listening to.

What else can I say about Galgenbrok? The artwork is really lovely designed and keeps this somehow mystical atmosphere in mind. The cover painting is designed by Johan Prenger, a Dutch painter who did some really impressive work in the past. The production of Galgenbrok was done by Floris Velthuis (the mastermind behind the band and also active in other bands such as Sagenland or Asgrauw) and is a really good black metal production. It leaves a cold atmosphere, and the bass is kept slightly in the background so you cannot feel too much warmth in it. Nevertheless, the production is very clear, and I would say that it doesn't lack anything here.

So, as a final conclusion I would say, if you are a fan of mid 90s Scandinavian black metal and bands such as Emperor, Ulver, Satyricon etc you should immediately listen to the album because in my humble opinion there hasn't been an album release within the last years that keeps the spirit of the 90s alive like Galgenbrok. Nevertheless, maybe Floris will be able to top it on the next Schavot album (although I know this will be quite difficult) but this is the only reason for not giving a full 10-point rating!

Rating: 9.9 out of 10 not grey hairs