An Austrian Black Metal band throws its first ferric into the fire, but HELLSAW consist of two old acquaintances: Aries and Svart formerly participated in Sanguis. These two musicians attach great importance to an old school like sound, regardless the production is quite good and clear. Also the melodies don’t get a raw deal, but they are held in the background. On the way to acoustic hell, the two musicians cross the path of well-known dark colleagues like Satyricon. They can be taken for clue to describe the arrangements and moods in HELLSAW.
Every time the songs are played slower, they are more valuable in my opinion, because the contrasts in dynamics cause a better impact of the different parts. This balance levels off in Endless perfectly; thereby the mélange is easier to reconstruct. The depressed parts match the overall picture very well, but all in all the music is too one-dimensional for me, surprises are scarce goods, variation is often negative report. Naturally, breaks in heaps or technical nuances are not the aim of HELLSAW, but that’s the reason why the album does not leave a lasting mark in my mind. Yet another problem is the poor playing time of Spiritual Twilight, but this loss is handled cleverly: the songs of the demo Sins Of Might are also presented on this album and these tracks also sound conveniently. Actually I have to say that the second half of Spiritual Twilight contains my favourites, that is to say the fine lumbering A Hungry Mortal Soul with nice melodies and handy structures or the epic Dreams with classical, monotonous and stoic chords – more of that!
In all the music is fast, raw and carried by a cold atmosphere and that’s what Spiritual Twilight aims for: to render homage to the old heroes and to captivate the listener’s attention through sentiments. The hellish seed does not have the ability yet to realize this in an elating way, but with more alternation, the result could be more than a valuation curt above average – and that’s what I hope for in the future.