### Hevein: Sound over matter

#### 12/10/09 || GardensTale

It’s from Finland. It’s signed to Spinefarm. It has a cello. It’s very melodic.

So, now that I’ve scared away 95% of our readers, let’s get on with the review.

It tends to frustrate me when a band has a mostly straightforward sound, yet is hard to categorize. How do you describe their sound? What’s their niche? If it’s good, how do you make sure the people who’d like it get interested? The problem arose several times before, and has returned to plague me once again. Say hello to melodic prog-thrash-gothic for lack of a better genre tag.

You see, Hevein do have some thrash elements in there. Half the vocals are the familiar throaty thrash shout with chugging riffs beneath. The other half are quite tasteful clean vocals which manage to avoid the whiny territory it could’ve fallen into so easily.

But that cello, as well as the violin, is what turns it all upside down. What thrash has a cello, huh? Not a whole fucking lot I can guarantee you. So in between those thrashy vocals and the chugging guitar riffs, you got a swirling stream of string music upsetting the balance. Or should I say, defining the balance. Because while it’s something quite different, it does work. Hevein have their own sound that mixes the aggression of thrash with the melancholy of gothic without the genericness of the former or the whiny emo attitude of the latter. Quite an accomplishment.

If I have to point out the biggest demerit of the album, it’d be the lyrics. I’m not very picky on those most of the time, but… “Four little creatures still fighting for the last slice of pie“? What? What the fuck is that? And it’s in an almost ballad-like portion of a song, too. Big contrasts between lyrics and music can be a plus, but the overall straightforward and more serious sound of Hevein combined with the sometimes awkward and sometimes clichéd lyrics just get in each other’s way. A shame.

But overall, don’t let this stop you from giving this a go. The high amount of melody might not appeal to everyone on here, but you can’t fault Hevein for their unique sound, and I for one am looking forward to them getting off their lazy asses and start doing something about that sophomore.

- Information
- Released: 2005
- Label: Spinefarm Records
- Website: Hevein MySpace
- Band
- Juha Immonen: vocals
- Leif Hedström: guitar, vocals
- Max Lilja: cello
- Aino Piipari: violin
- Janne Jaakkola: bass
- Otto Uotila: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Break out the hammers
- 02. Worth fighting for
- 03. iOta
- 04. As far as the eye can see
- 05. Only human
- 06. Bleed the day
- 07. Beg to differ
- 08. Hold fast
- 09. New hope
- 10. Last drop of innocence