When she joined Helion Prime, I was thrilled in two respects; 1)For her to have a new band to keep living out her musical aspirations, but also 2)Selfishly, to be able to hear her singing melodies into my head once again. All it took was hearing "The Forbidden Zone" to have my smile find that old nostalgic shape. Helion Prime's music is sci-fi metal in both respects of the term. They pick subject matter that sometimes veers into that world (as is the case with the aforementioned song, which is about "Planet Of The Apes"), but also because the music and tones still sound futuristic. The keyboard blips, and the super-saturated guitar tones, both sound like the cruising Death Star casting a shadow over the state of power metal.
The shift in lineup has another impact on the band. Bringing back their original singer to write all of the lyrics and melodies, the style of writing has changed. I remember listening to their previous record, because it won widespread acclaim, and coming away with a completely different feeling than I get from "Question Everything". The hooks are sturdier, the songs more immediately memorable than the last time I listened to Helion Prime.
It's not easy to write a song about Socrates, partly because philosophy is viewed as a dry pursuit (I have a degree in it, so go figure), but also because the idea of standing firm in your belief that people need to be taught how to think is not a concept that meshes with our current climate. Socrates would be as much an outcast now as he was then, as dangerous too, and piling thousands of years of intellectual stagnation into a song is a daunting task. "The Gadfly" does it ably, with a triumphant sound that echoes the message of defiance.
We also get stories about Alan Turing, Gregor Mendel, Katherine Johnson, and a famous photograph of DNA. As the lyric talks of spiraling high and climbing the ladder to knowledge, we get vocals that stretch the song's range, reaching higher up the scale. It may have been coincidence, but when the lyric and the performance connect like that, it's a detail of putting a song together that could go unnoticed, but makes a statement if you're looking for it.
Likewise, the small use of harsh vocals in "E Pur Si Muove" properly capture the frustration Galileo must have felt when the Church told him the truth he could see and observe must be ignored in favor of a story of tradition that did not seek or desire the answers to our world. Screaming is the only appropriate response to being ordered to keep the world in the dark. Thankfully, we know better now (at least most of us do), and the propulsive melody anchoring the song is not going to let us forget.
"Question Everything" is an album chock full of strong songs. Over it's fifty-plus minutes, Helion Prime is firing on all cylinders, and rarely gives us much breathing room. The songs pound along with a metallic heart, maybe a bit too much so when there's a dramatic string line like in the title track. A little more dynamics in the mix, pushing that to the forefront, could have made the song even more dramatic. It's still very good as it is, but man, there was an opportunity to create an even more memorable moment.
That's a very minor nit to be picking, which I only bring up as an illustration of the level Helion Prime is working on here. "Question Everything" is a great power metal record, and a highlight of the genre, without any doubt. The band has never sounded better, and perhaps by questioning everything, they have put all the pieces together. This is one of the best metal albums of the year.
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