Vehemence - Helping The World To See (CD)

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What would be the result if someone mixed the brutality of At The Gates with the trademark riffs of Iron Maiden? Well, if you asked me like two weeks ago I would easily say In Flames until the Colony album (if not Jester's Race).
Vehemence on the other hand could easily fit in the above description. They are melodic, they are death, they are black too, a bit progressive from time to time! Confused? Read On…
Vehemence's third effort  (second on a major label) is Helping The World To See, which in fact is the way melodic death should sound in the third millennium. Fast paced, filled with guitar riffs accompanied with unholy drum blasts. Even from the opening track you could easily guess the intentions of these American deathsters, melting your mind between rhythm and disharmony, between headbanging and chills through your spine! The Maiden-like influences are all over the record, heavy riffs, dual guitar solos and listen closely especially on the ending of the song Trinity Broadcasting. I must insist on the wonderful guitar work which is the weak part of all the new -and old- melodic death bands nowadays, as if one day most bands from the Melodic-Death scene decided not to write or even use a guitar riff inside a death song!
Musically the album goes beyond the frontier of the classic Melodic-Death tempo. Some songs are more aggressive, some more death-like and you can even hear some progressive elements the way Death (R.I.P) implemented them into their music. This whole experiment really works due to the -almost flawless- production. The drums have a good share from the noise, the guitar riffs are very easy to catch and though the bass is a bit overthrown by the above, it really tightens up the rhythm section. The only weak part of the production is the vocals which in fact could have been more upfront instead of being overlapped by drums and some time even by guitars.
To be honest Vehemence's Helping The World To See isn't easy to listen to by the average death metal fan due to this mixture of elements, in fact it needs lots and lots of listening before getting deep into it, but it's really worth the wait. You'll surely get plenty of riffs for you mind to be haunted with!