ALBUM REVIEW: Conundrum – Hällas

The second full-length release from “adventure rock” band HÄLLAS, Conundrum, is a fine way to complete the trilogy of fantasy records the band has put out, but unfortunately cannot live up to the show-stopping nature of its predecessor.

Conundrum is 45 minutes of unashamedly cheesy, 70s and 80s-influenced futuristic “adventure rock” (HÄLLAS’ own definition). It’s hard to classify, that’s for sure. HÄLLAS somehow manage to take IRON MAIDEN-esque riffs and harmonies, mix it in with some celestial/astral mythology with songs often clocking in at over seven minutes long, but without sounding anything like AMON AMARTH. Instead of going down what must have been the obvious path of melodic death metal, they added in keyboards, some softer vocals which would be more suited to folk than rock, and rounded it all off with a retro 80s gaming aesthetic. They’re a great band.

After the synth-led introduction Ascension is out of the way, Beyond Night and Day begins the best way any album can – with what might be the quintessential 80s-inspired drum fill. It’s a beautiful moment, and gives hope that Conundrum would come even slightly close to its predecessor, Excerpts From A Future Past. Alas, it does not. But perhaps only because Excerpts… is one of the best, most original records we’ve had the pleasure of stumbling across in recent years. 

Blinded by the Emerald Mist has a lovely album standout moment in the middle, where the song is broken down after some killer guitar solos and led again by the synth/keyboard playing of Nicklas Malmqvist. The synths and keyboards are where this band really stands out, and we hope that in the future they are able to focus their attention more towards this aspect of their instrumentation. They manage this perfectly on the introduction to Fading Hero, which perfectly encapsulates their 80s video game-but-make-it-metal vibes before launching into a driving riff which wouldn’t be out of place on a DEEP PURPLE album. It’s a shame that the album takes this long to reach its definitive stand out track, but Fading Hero really has it all; the 80s drum fills, the keyboard and synth accents, the MAIDEN-esque guitar harmonies and the Tolkien-esque lyrics, the proggy, extended breakdown in the middle.

Conundrum does not demand repetitive listens the same way that Excerpts From A Future Past does. It’s good, it’s just not as outstanding as its predecessor. There is no Star Rider equivalent on this album (the standout track from Excerpts… and the one which gave the band their first semi-hit and launched HÄLLAS into the big time), but then again, perhaps writing a song that instantly becomes a classic underground hit in the rock world is something that only happens once.   

Overall, if Conundrum had been released first, it would have been an interesting introduction to HÄLLAS. It would have piqued interest from listeners in the rock and metal community and certainly set them up to have many curious eyes and ears kept on them to see what happened next. But, following on from Excerpts From A Future Past, Conundrum falls just slightly short. 

Rating: 7/10

Conundrum is out now via Napalm Records.

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