ALBUM REVIEW: Welcome To Hel – Hjelvik

In July 2018, after eleven years of fronting the Norwegian black-n-roll pioneers KVELERTAK, a disillusioned and jaded Erlend Hjelvik not only hung up his boots with the band, but with heavy metal as a whole, spouting irreconcilable personal and professional differences. It wasn’t until the singer found himself pottering around his house in the Norwegian outlands to a soundtrack of first and second wave black metal a la VENOM, BATHORY and MAYHEM that the frontman found the fire fuelling away in his belly once more. With his new project nothing but an idea in his mind, Erlend burrowed away and brought to life his love of Norse mythology and Norwegian history across a backdrop of blackened heavy metal. Taking his last name as his calling card, HJELVIK cordially invite us to step into their world: Welcome To Hel. 

Welcome To Hel is as much a debut album as it is a baptism of fire; a high-octane guns-ablazing phoenix-rising rebirth from a frontman who clearly wasn’t finished with his time in the spotlight. Fleshing out his ideas with friends from death metal mainstays, guitarist Rob Steinway [SKELATOR], bassist Alexis Lieu [BENIGHTED] and drummer Kevin Foley [BENIGHTED] complete HJELVIK and create a sound that synthesises its 80’s black metal and 90’s viking metal influences into a modern take that can only be described as ‘New Wave of British Heavy Blackened Viking Metal.’ 

Opener Father War melds hypnotising power chord solos with blastbeat-riddled drum fills as Erlend’s guttural growls literally explode across the track, leaving you chanting ‘Father War’ with ferocity. Elsewhere, Thor’s Hammer is as close as we’ll get to a MAYHEM-fronted AMON AMARTH attack as dissonant black metal tones turn over in their graves alongside heavy metal’s more melodic structures. As if it couldn’t get any more evil genius, HJELVIK present a strong case for a Tobias Forge (GHOST)-helmed black metal project on album highlight The Power Ballad Of Freyr which with its fiery fretwork and monstrously melodic hooks isn’t a million miles away from the arena-rock of Prequelle.

Where HJELVIK succeeds is in its frontman’s outright rejection of retracing his steps, opting instead to be reborn in a sound that is far more suited to his creative vision, and one that sounds like he’s having far more fun than he was before. Glory Of Hel is a shining example of this, featuring heavy metal hero Matt Pike [HIGH ON FIRE, SLEEP] and sounding somewhat like the invention of blackened stoner metal, channelling CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, HIGH ON FIRE and MASTODON in equal measures. Meanwhile, Kveldulv finds Hjelvik delighting in their darkest fantasies, as if you were listening to a mixtape from the mid-nineties golden-age of Norwegian black metal. It’s at both junctions here that you realise this isn’t simply a debut album, but a labour of love from someone who not only has rediscovered his roots, but has finally settled himself in the sound he’s most comfortable creating, which works wonders for the overall output. 

As much as his departure gave way for Ivar Nikolaisen to revolutionise KVELERTAK, Erlend Hjelvik on Welcome To Hel proves that it’s not about winning the battle but conquering the war. Welcome To Hel is by far one of the most consistent, creative and convivial records of 2020. 

Rating: 9/10

Welcome to Hel is out now via Nuclear Blast. 

For more information on HJELVIK like their official page on Facebook.