Polish Music

Hefeystos - Hefeystos (1996)

2019-02-07T16:02:28Z

Hefeystos - Hefeystos (1996)


1. 	Urok Samotności 	3:35
2. 	Magiczny Strumień 	8:23
3. 	Czarna Łza 	6:27
4. 	Starych Legend Czar 	8:31
5. 	Głos Z Ogrodów Niwy	8:27
6. 	Gdzie Milczy Każdy Cień 	5:17

Drums – Piastun Aothar
Guitar [Electric] – Zeffar
Guitar [Electric], Acoustic Guitar – Heiglot
Keyboards – Piotr Weltrowski
Vocals [Female] – Alicja Szumska
Vocals, Bass – Nantur Aldaron

Wieki temu, gdy w radiu w porach nocnych można było jeszcze natknąć się na mroczniejszą i nieca cięższą odmianę muzyki, razu pewnego usłyszałam piękny, niezwykle poetycki utwór, którego autorem był właśnie zespół Hefeystos. Muzyka zrobiła ma mnie tak ogromne wrażenie, że przez kilka najbliższych dni nie potrafiłam ani się od niej oderwać, ani też "wymienić" jej na cokolwiek innego, mimo że dysponowałam wówczas tylko jedną kompozycją. Wkrótce jednak to mi przestało wystarczać, pragnęłam bowiem poznać pełne oblicze tej formacji, mieć obok siebie cały album. Poszukiwania początkowo do łatwych nie należały, jednak o rezygnacji nie było absolutnie mowy. Nie od dziś wiadomo, że jeśli czegoś bardzo się chce, w końcu się to zdobędzie. I rzeczywiście mój upór został wynagrodzony, udało mi się wreszcie dotrzeć do pełnometrażowej płyty, pierwszego pełnego wydawnictwa Hefeystos.

Zgodnie z moimi przeczuciami, po zapoznaniu się z całym materiałem, moje oczarowanie się pogłębiło, a uczucia stały się jeszcze intensywniejsze. Trudno jest ubrać w kilka mniej lub bardziej sensownych zdań to, co dzieje się na tej płycie. Bluźnierstwem byłyby jakiekolwiek uogólniania, etykietki, porównania. To świat emocji, tęsknoty, pozornego zapomnienia. Hefeystos z dumą przenosi słuchacza w odległą, pogańską krainę, gdzie włada prawo miecza i spokojna codzienność. Niezwykle rozbudowane, poetyckie teksty podzielone na sześć aktów, splatają się w jedną, chlubną opowieść. Stare legendy, mroczny las, nieokiełznane piękno i tajemniczość przyrody, zerwana miłość, samotność, lęk, odwaga, chwała... O tym wszystkim czarująco opowiada dwójka "mieszanych" wokalistów. Oboje doskonale wczuwają się w swoją rolę - emocjonalny, przejmujący, a czasem nawet lekko blackowy (szczególnie końcówka "Magicznego Strumienia") wokal Nantura i jedyny w swoim rodzaju, zmysłowy głos Alicji, wspaniale komponują się z dźwiękami. Z samej muzyki natomiast rozlewa się majestatyczne piękno, bliżej nieokreślona nostalgia (czyżby za dawnymi czasami?), smutek. Gitary akustyczne przeplatają się ze specyficznymi, delikatnymi klawiszami (gra na nich Piotr Weltrowski znany też z December's Fire), czuły, tajemniczy nastrój śmiało zamienia się w nieokiełznany gniew i szaleństwo ("Magiczny Strumień"). Trudno przyczepić tym dźwiękom etykietkę - niektórzy doszukują się gotyku, inni "klimatycznego", a nawet "blackowego" metalu. I w sumie każdy ma trochę racji, nawet z tym blackiem to w pewnym sensie prawda. Tyle tylko, że nie czuć tu żadnej "norweskości", a... słowiaństwo, wręcz polskość. Tak, to prawda, doczekaliśmy się w końcu grupy, która docenia piękno i chwałę własnej ojczyzny (a w Norwegii dużo takich mają :-). I może dlatego Hefeystos od razu tak głęboko wnika w serce, staje się tak bliski i tak potrzebny.

Szkoda, że kolejny album tej formacji ukazał objawił zupełnie inne fascynacje muzyków (tych, którzy pozstali) tej kapeli. O takim debiucie jednak nie da się zapomnieć, tym bardziej że wciąż brakuje w naszym kraju takich grup - niezwykle poetyckich, urzekających i przede wszystkim tak polskich. ---Margaret, rockmetal.pl

Bands like Poland’s Hefeystos exist in numbers, but they dwell in relative obscurity across Central and Eastern European plains. Many lie undiscovered by the masses for long periods of time whilst others develop cult status amongst the few underground followers who have been lucky enough to discover them. Unfortunately for Hefeystos they come under the former category despite the largely accessible nature of their music, particularly on this self-titled debut effort. Having read snippets of background information about the obscure Polish band and putting two-and-two together, I have come to the conclusion, despite not having heard their sophomore full-length, that the band have undergone radical changes to their sound, as well as their line-up, over the years which has been the primary reason for their departure from the black/gothic hybrid of the early days and into the realms of avant-gardé rock, a style which kept the musicians and small sections of fans occupied until their demise at the turn of the century.

I often find a lot of Central and Eastern European bands have accentuated methods when it comes to doing certain things and Hefeystos are no different from the standard. The vocals, for example, normally come in the form of both male, and female, clean voices with both parties allowing their accents to twist the words into an emotive form. Normally I find a lot of Central European accents to be quite cold, including the Polish accent, but when sung in this folksy fashion, the words of the vocalists, both male and female, transform from cold, empty words into one’s with meaning, passion and beauty. The vocals are important when it comes to Hefeystos’ self-titled debut, something which isn’t the case more often than not across the board in regards to black metal outfits. I certainly wouldn’t even begin to classify this album as a black metal record. In actual fact, it sounds very far removed from the black metal scene.

Occasionally, the keyboards, or the vocals show some sign of taking influence from the symphonic side of black metal, but these representatives are often subdued for long periods at a time. However, on the odd occasion, the male vocals do transform from cleanly sung words into watered down rasps, as shown on songs like ‘Magiczny Strumień’, though they only begin to take affect towards the end of the song and, whenever they do appear throughout the record, they’re infrequent and sparse. Whatever black metal elements that do exist, they’re subtle and not all that imperative when it comes to the foreground material. However, in the grand scheme of things, all the elements are tied together surprisingly well for a band so obscure. You could be forgiven for thinking acts like this would be sloppy in their song writing, but Hefeystos’ debut shows a lot of maturity in the song writing, particularly when it comes to the integration of the keyboards, performed eloquently by former member Piotr Weltrowski.

I particularly liked his involvement during songs such as ‘Czarna Łza’, during which he performs his symphonic touches with coolness. Songs like this also highlight the depth in skill when it comes to song writing as Hefeystos manage to successfully integrate an audible bass into the fray despite the distortion, something which is actually also very subdued throughout. I had expected more distortion, more growls, or at least rasps, but most of these elements were sparse and allowed the piano passages, solos and clean vocals to flourish in a not-so-demanding environment. In fact, the album comes across more so as being slightly slow, like a doom metal album, but these is probably when the gothic aesthetics come into play, alongside the charming female vocals provided by the sultry Alicja Szumska whose operatic style is turned down a notch, thankfully. Her voice doesn’t become overbearing, as shown perfectly on ‘Starych Legend Czar’, a song which shows that softer and harsher elements can coexist peacefully on black/gothic hybrids such as this.

Elements like the bass become slightly more repetitive on songs like this, whilst the folksy singing and guitar solos give the song more depth and a splicing of creativity amidst the repetitious factor. Alongside the dark, wicked gothic keyboards, the songs manage to stretch their influence well and manoeuvre between the styles effectively. The vocals, which are typical of Central and Eastern European bands bring everything together and lead from the front deceptively well for such an unknown, reasonably young act. The vocals remind me of bands like Kauan who have managed to integrate small doses of clean vocals into harsher styles, although Hefeystos definitely take this one step further with their consistent use of heavier structures. Despite the cheap look of the artwork and the obscurity of the band, this is a very well put together debut with some very beautiful, touching moments. ---Perplexed_Sjel, metal-archives.com

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Hefeystos ‎– Psycho Cafe (1998)

2018-11-10T08:46:56Z

Hefeystos ‎– Psycho Cafe (1998)


1 	Love Is The Law 	5:00
2 	Our Lady Of The Whores 	4:16
3 	Credo Is The Key 	5:03
4 	Away 	4:14
5 	U Gonna Bleed 4 Me 	3:56
6 	Everyone Is A Star 	3:33
7 	Rats 	3:59
8 	Adoration Of The Earth 	6:27
9 	Thursday Evening 	4:14
10 	The Kingdom Is Mine 	7:30
11 	Psycho Café 	3:10

Backing Vocals – Rafał Brauer (11), Nergal (1, 2, 10), Krzysztof Twardosz (2, 11), Piotr Weltrowski (10, 11)
Bass Guitar, Lead Guitar [Additional] – Rafał Brauer
Drums, Percussion, Lead Guitar [Additional], Bass Guitar [Additional] – Krzysztof Twardosz
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Keyboards, Bass Guitar [Additional] – Piotr Weltrowski
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Bass Guitar [Additional] – Kryzysztof Czop
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Alicja Szumska

Hefeystos – nieistniejąca polska grupa muzyczna której dokonania muzyczne trudno zaliczyć do jednego nurtu muzycznego, gdyż grupa w swojej muzyce łączyła wiele stylów, od black metalu, przez metal gotycki, aż po rock awangardowy. Zespół powstał w 1994 roku w miejscowości Rumia w województwie pomorskim. Grupa została rozwiązana około 1998 roku tuż po wydaniu drugiej płyty studyjnej pt. "Psycho Cafe".

Hefeystos really took me by surprise when I first heard their self-titled full-length debut. I wasn’t expecting much from a hidden and obscure Polish hybrid of black and gothic. I’ve come to realise, having extensively searched for bands in smaller countries across Europe in the black metal genre, that most are obscure for a reason. The music is usually very brash, quite unprofessional and although there may be some semblance of talent hidden in the depths of the atmospherics, there isn’t the experience or maturity to show the band how to properly project their themes. Hefeystos were one of the exceptions to the rule as their debut was extremely enjoyable and showcased a professionalism and maturity that I had not expected in such a young band. The enthusiasm was always bound to there, youth and inexperience supplies that in abundance, but the technicalities were bound to be off, right? That’s normally what I expect of Central and Eastern European bands who have laid unnoticed for many, many years.

The return of Hefeystos in the form of their sophomore, entitled ‘Psycho Cafe’, is more of what I was expecting, but given the nature of the line-up and the alterations in sound, Hefeystos were never going to keep up the same intensity, or levels of craftsmanship on their sophomore seeing as their line-up had significantly altered during the time frame between the first and second albums. Obviously, the changes to the line-up, the progression in sound and the seeming lack of attention were all too much for this Polish band as they collapsed and split-up some time after the year 2000. Not only had there been alterations to the line-up, but the sound has transformed somewhat, though not completely to the avant-gardé rock description up on Metal Archives. The bands label had changed for this recording, too. Though these may seem like minor details, they all contribute to the eventual downfall of the Polish band.

The opening song, in particular, showcases a number of faulty issues. The new male vocalist is sub par. His screams, growls and whatever else he supplies has little impact. The debut was projected by a soulful male vocalist and had a lot of imagination behind it, despite being restricted to black/gothic musings. The vocals on this effort run in similar paths, but with nowhere near the same quality or professionalism. The male vocals aren’t exactly terrible, but they lack prowess and don’t convey the same sorts of emotions as the previous vocalist, who mainly used clean vocals to project the themes of the band, which actually worked out better because of the softer style the band often opted for. When the band are alternating between soft and harsh styles, they also change vocalists, as shown on songs like ‘Credo/3 Is The Key’ whereby the female vocalist takes over from the male one, though they do seem to chant together at some point.

The female vocals feel lazy and lack emotion. They don’t inspire me in the slightest and feel like a cheap trick (as does implementing unusual keyboards into songs when they weren’t previously on any of the other songs, as shown on ‘U Gonna Bleed 4 Me?’) in trying to make the listener think the album is far more expansive and expressive than it actually is just because there is a “sultry” voice over the proceedings. Songs like ‘Away’ remind me of fellow gothic bands like America’s Brave, but in regards to Brave, they actually have a knack for song writing, integrating perfect suiting female vocals and a progressionist type of style that makes them feel adventurous. Also, in regards to Brave, their music incorporates instrumentation such as the piano, or violin that feels right at home with the progressive style of structure. Songs like ‘Away’ use a jazzier bass and the occasional female vocals to make the song feel more dynamic, but the female vocals are unflattering against the lacklustre atmospherics and the male vocals are terribly mediocre.

So, whilst the bass may be getting creative behind the scenes, the foreground is churning out mediocre moment after mediocre moment in the form of the vocal duets and the cheap feeling production which fails to support the solos of songs like ‘Away’. I also cannot help but feel agitated by the immature song titles, like ‘U Gonna Bleed 4 Me?’. Seriously, what are we? 12? Grow up and stop being moronic! The best elements of the debut, like the clean male vocals and emotive piano have been largely removed. The clean male vocals here, if you can call them clean, are disappointing and the piano which features on songs like ‘Everyone is a Star’ is so buried that it becomes detached from the direction of the awkward music. The lyrics also seem completely pathetic. So, in conclusion, do your best to avoid the sophomore where the line-up had been taken over by kids and stick with the debut. ---Perplexed_Sjel, metal-archives.com

download (mp3 @192 kbs):

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