At the start of the album you are still guessing, but as soon as the riffs start there is one thing for sure; you know what kind of music HELIOS plays. This is HEAVY US METAL. Yes, with capitals. The band is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and have only been together since 2020. "Touch The Sun" is the debut album, and to be frank, HELIOS could have done a lot worse. Well, the band is about five experienced musicians getting together and playing Heavy Metal with a twist.

The one person you might know in singer Tim Aymar. He actually is the singer on the absolutely brilliant Chuck Schuldiner album by the band CONTROL DENIED. "The Fragile Art Of Existence" is still being played regularly in our household. I thought I recognised the voice, but it took the biography of HELIOS to point it out to me. And if you will take a stretch, sometimes you'll hear some influences, especially in the way the drums are being played. It obviously must have travelled with Tim. And within the constraints of "Touch The Sun" it bloody works. But, like on "Hellbender", you could also hear some JUDAS PRIEST, as he also has a knack to make his voice sound like the mighty Rob Halford.

But in the main you're getting pure and unadulterated Heavy Metal that is hard hitting, heavy as f*ck, but also well put together. All too often bands just go over the edge with doing too much, overproducing the music, piling too many parts into it. I'm not saying HELIOS doesn't doe that, but they are respecting the boundaries. The music never gets overpopulated, too crowded. There's always a little breathing space. Admittedly, sometimes scarcely, but still. And it works, it makes repeatedly mandatory listening to uncover all the ingredients and the full effect of "Touch The Sun".

For some people this could become too overpowering. I was afraid of that when I started listening, but after a while I had to agree, "Touch The Sun" is actually quite good. Heavy US Metal at its finest, with some Progressive bits thrown in when acquired, but most of all raging like the proverbial bull. And if you have two guitar players like Jeff Loy and Jonathan Stanley, who are capable of producing some speaker melting solos during the songs, you could and should feel on top of the world. Especially the latter, when he unleashes his YNGWIE persona in his playing. It just adds that extra dimension to HELIOS. Beautiful.