Helalyn Flowers – White Me In / Black Me Out (DCD Album – Alfa-Matrix)
Genre/Influences: Cyber-metal-rock.
Content: Helalyn Flowers strikes back with their 3rd full length to date, which probably is their most accomplished release as well. The Italian music chameleon has always been mixed electronics and metal together, but this new opus sounds like it is exploring wider fields and new influences.
I never have linked Helalyn Flowers with pop influences, but the opening cut “Before The Sunshine” is a very successful symbiosis between metal and pop. It’s a damn furious metal-pop song led by the charismatic vocals of Noemi. Max and Noemi definitely move deeper into the realms of pop while holding on their trash-guitar side. They remind me a bit of The Birthday Massacre on “White Me In Black Me Out”. The title song is a very significant song to illustrate the duality between styles that this album is showing. This album appears to be a kind of challenge, which they have fully accomplished.
Helalyn Flowers also gets back to their heavier side on “Alkaline Twins”. The songs however taste like the fruits of passion and patience. That’s what I simply would call maturity! They simply excel in maturity on numerous other songs like “Electric Night” and the surprising PJ Harvey cover version of “Rid Of Me”. The final part of the album even explores vague elements of psychedelic finally ending in the totally surprising and future-pop driven “Lost In Translation”. The lead is especially quite catchy on this song. Does Helalyn Flowers become a new and sensational hybrid featuring elements of NIN on one side and VNV Nation on the other? Let’s say that the last song is not totally a NIN / VNV Nation hybrid, but it is definitely a great song.
The 2nd disc is the one you’ll discover when buying the limited edition of the release. “Wireless Survivors” is the title of this disc, which next to several remixes by bands like Psy’Aviah, Aesthetische, Junksista, Neikka RPM, Studio-X, Inertia and a few others still features a very cool “Club Mix” of the title song plus three other cover versions. The covers are again evoking the eclecticism and duality of the album. Just imagine a cover version of 2 Unlimited’s “No Limits” followed by The Ramones “Pet Sematary” and The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”. All the covers aren’t that efficient, but I can imagine the impact they could have when played live. Among the different remixes, I noticed excellent versions –of the title song by Psy’Aviah and Neikka RPM.
A last song I want to mention is the “Club Mix” of “Before The Sunshine”. Helalyn Flowers are literally surpassing themselves on this mix making the limited edition very interesting.
Conclusion: I never considered myself as a huge fan of Helalyn Flowers, but I reconsidered my view after the listening of this new work. They hold on to their heavy carrying guitar parts while empowering pop elements. We also can call “White Me In / Black Me Out” as pure nu-pop-metal music!
Best songs: “Before The Sunshine”, “White Me In / Black Me Out”, “Lost In Translation”, “Rid Of Me”.
Rate: (Elise Din:8)ED.
Band: www.helalynflowers.com / www.facebook.com/helalynflowers
Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix
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