HellLight – We, The Dead

HellLight
We, The Dead
Label: Meuse Music Records
Out: May 9^th, 2025
Playing time: 01:17:35

Founded in São Paulo (Brazil) in 1996, HellLight is one of the pioneering bands in the Atmospheric Funeral Doom Metal scene. That’s what the press release says. However, the debut album ‘In Memory Of The Old Spirits’ was only released in 2005 and was self-distributed. Its successor was given the significant title ‘Funeral Doom’ (2008) and thus describes exactly what was to be heard on it. Further albums were subsequently released at regular intervals. The compilation ‘XX Years of Doom 1996 – 2016’ was released to mark the band’s tenth anniversary. ‘We, The Dead’ is now the Brazilians’ eighth album.

A short, calm, sustained keyboard tapestry intro can be heard on ‘Echoes Of Eons’. Then heavy walls of guitars set in. Everything is naturally very decelerated. Fabio De Paula’s growls sound as if they are coming straight from the pit of hell. Behind them is a wavering organ. ‘As A Fading Sun We Lie’ starts with simple, calm piano sounds. Here, too, massive walls of guitars push out of the speakers later on. But you can also hear beautiful melodies. Fabio’s growls go right through you. But then he shows that he can do things differently, with clear, high-pitched vocals that are almost psychedelic. ‘Desperate Cry’ doesn’t go off without a short, calm instrumental introduction either. Clear guitars, keyboard tapestries and individual drum inserts. Before the lower-tuned guitars provide a lot of darkness. Some of the vocals are technically alienated. The title track of the album, ‘We, The Dead’, is labelled ‘Interlude’ and is by far the shortest song with a playing time of just over five minutes. Five minutes? That would be a normal song length on ‘normal’ albums. Here, too, we first hear calm piano sounds. Once again, Fabio sings with his clear, yet melancholy voice, accompanied by keyboard tapestry and occasional strokes of the piano keys. A ballad in the midst of brute Funeral Doom forces. On ‘As Daylight Fades’ we hear a very special vocal partner – Heike Langhans (e.g. :LOR3L3I:, Remina, ex-Draconian). Musically, not much changes. Heike is accompanied by quiet piano sounds. It goes very well with her ethereal vocals. When Fabio’s evil growls kick in, it gets heavier, with powerful drums and strong organ passages. A nice interplay of calm and strong metal passages. At the beginning of ‘Obsolete Dreams’ there are quiet piano-accompanied vocals. But the vocals soon become more powerful. The instrumental section of guitars and keyboards follows suit. Fabio shows just how varied his vocals can be; alongside the abysmal growls, there are always calm but also powerful clear vocals. Speaking of guitars. Once again you can hear fine melodies underpinning the growls. After some sound play as an introduction, “The Last March” develops into a riff-driven Funeral Doom monster. The evil deep growls are accompanied by a Hammond.

Anyone who thinks Funeral Doom is boring is very much mistaken. Yes, sure, the slowness dominates. But singer Fabio De Paula impresses with his great vocal variety. There is also a lot going on instrumentally. Guitar riffs, thundering walls of guitars, lots of piano sounds, keyboard tapestries and even a Hammond can be heard. In my opinion, this is an extremely impressive and nuanced Funeral Doom album.

HellLight – As Daylight Fades (feat. Heike Langhans): https://youtu.be/TfDVGLrltK8?si=bJPgabjXkf308u_l

Lineup:

Fabio De Paula – Guitars, Lead Vocals, Keyboards
Alexandre Vida – Bass
Renan Bianchi – Drums, Backing Vocals.

Track list:

• Echoes Of Eons
• As A Fading Sun We Lie
• Desperate Cry
• We, The Dead (Interlude)
• As Daylight Fades
• Obsolete Dreams
• The Last March