HELMS DEEP is the side-project of one of the most underrated legends of Heavy Metal as a whole, John Gallagher from RAVEN. We obviously need to that about John Gallagher and RAVEN before throwing ourselves in this second album of his side-project. They influenced the Big 4 in a huge way and their paved the way for them to breakout. They brought METALLICA as their opener in 1983 in their US tour and really brought a whole new audience to the legends we all know and love obviously. They were always open to bringing new bands with them on tour and giving them a shot. They were thinking about the bigger picture, a little bit like what bands like Ozzy Osbourne, MOTORHEAD and DIAMOND HEAD did for them back in the UK. They might have not had the success of the bands they made discover, they still have a longstanding influence on many bands. When METALLICA did a stadium show in Brazil a few years ago, they asked RAVEN to open in front of over 70000 fans, which is a nice gift for a band that helped them at the very beginning.

HELMS DEEP sound a lot like older ACCEPT, mixed with SAXON. Their sound is really based on NWOBHM but it’s much more faster. They really mix both sounds really well and it’s highly enjoyable. The last few ANNIHILATOR albums sounds a lot like them, I am not entirely sure that’s the biggest compliment though. ANNIHILATOR has been copying styles left and right since Jeff Waters took over the reigns of the vocals. I feel like I am listening to one of their albums but with a singer with a much better range of vocals obviously. With a name like HELMS DEEP, I was wondering if we had some Lord of the Rings references other maybe than the title track...We are talking about one of the greatest scenes in the history of film and one of the most important battles described in the history of literature so yes, I was a tad disappointed I have to admit. It does feel grandiose on the musical side of things and it does give you the motivation to go into battle and really gets you going and makes your blood boil so I guess, you can relate it on that level instead of the whole album themes I'd say.

Pulling no punches again on this release, it’s another solid effort. Clocking at slightly less than 60 minutes, it’s a bit more than the usual length for an album of this genre. There are no sore spots or bad songs on this release, it felt refreshing to say the least. The album is solid from the beginning to the end and it’s a highly enjoyable headbanger.