Hällas – Panorama | soundsfromthedarkside

Do you want your progressive rock adventurous and a little retro without sounding outdated? Come and check Hällas’ new magnum opus Panorama.

Hällas hails from Jönköping, Sweden, where at least one of this staff has travelled to, and they have been around for about fifteen years now. Their first album Excerpts from a Future Past came out back in 2017 and the band has steadily been cementing their reputation in the progressive rock and metal scene, although they label themselves as the purveyors of “adventure rock,” and that’s fine as well. Call it what you want however, but what Hällas plays is mostly a progressive blend of seventies hard rock with a metallic edge to it. As far as adventures go, their new, fourth opus Panorama is one, indeed.

Panorama is frontloaded heavily with Above the Continuum, a twenty-one minute, seven-part opus, which as a song is nothing short of astounding. Before it becomes a grand, swerving epic, however, it starts out as an Italo dance jam. I actually kid you not; when I heard it the first time I was sure the wrong content was somehow streaming. Soon enough though, the dance music makes place for the electric guitars. It starts out heavy on Hammond and twin guitar leads before becoming a proper symphonic suite, and keeps on going until the fourteen minute mark, when things get spacey with aeolian tones and the voice of the story’s hermit lamenting a world long gone (“I remember the taste of apples…”). It then goes full Genesis with an array of changing time signatures and some very stylish guitar work, before the band rounds procedures off in a suitably big, symphonic way with a sweeping string section.

Above the Continuum is an amazing journey, and it takes balls to open your album like that. It’s a testament to the band’s songwriting talent that it never crumbles under its own massive weight. All twenty-one minutes are utterly engrossing and things never get too complex; this is an epic that enthralls as a song from the very first listen, and only becomes better and more engrossing once you get to know it more intimately. It’s already easily one of the best rock songs of the year, and I don’t say that lightly.

The transition to side two can be jarring as soon as Face of an Angel kicks in, because it’s almost the antithesis of what came before. Here we have a light, happily rocking track that riffs off and/or pays homage to A Horse with no Name by America (which could also just be a coincidence, of course). It’s an absolutely fine rock song in its own right, but the transition can be jarring, especially without having to change sides. This is one of those records tailor made for the vinyl format.

The following The Emissary should tick all the right boxes for people who are into twin guitar harmonies and bands like Wishbone Ash, Wytch Hazel or stuff like Thin Lizzy and Uriah Heep. It’s crammed full of those little guitar licks that will make you prick your ears up and take notice, especially during the already excellent chorus. Bestiaus is the gentle folky piano ballad an album like this needs, and it’s a good one and never stays out its welcome at a lean three minutes (the last part of the song is made up of ambient noise and an increasingly louder ticking clock). The Summit closes the parade in style, oozing Selling England by the Pound vibes in the opening minute (think Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, especially) before it turns into a speedy rocker with a big role on the organ and dramatic vocals where Tommy Alexandersson, not for the first time, sounds eerily similar to a young Peter Gabriel.

As a progressive rock album that wears its seventies influences proudly on its sleeve, Panorama is a triumph. A victorious celebration of the genre but never a cheap copy. Instead, Hällas does its own thing within the progressive realm, crafting their own sound and forging their own path. To open your fourth album with such a long track takes courage and a lot of confidence, and the fact that the band pulls it off so spectacularly well is impressive and speaks volumes at how talented these guys are. What’s maybe even more breathtaking is how they not only open with a song this grand in scope, but also how they are able to stick the landing on the second part of the album. Yes, Face of an Angel takes two or three turns to get used to, but Panorama never stumbles in spite of it. This, my friends, is a remarkable collection of progressive (or adventure) rock songs and if you’re a fan of any of the bands mentioned here, you owe it to yourself to check this band, and this album, out.

Buy it here: https://haellas.bandcamp.com/

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