With a great album in their hands, Helestios may gaze at tomorrow with optimism. “Road To Ecstasy” is a release that should not be overlooked and Helestios is a new force in the world wide extreme metal scene. Myth of Rock was honored to talk with the guys form Helestios and what follows, are the most interesting parts of our long chat.
Give us a short biography of Helestios until now.
We are a multinational band that was formed in late 2019/early 2020 by Henrijs Leja and Stylianos Angelis in UK. By end of 2020 we released our first album “Your Pain Tastes Good” and it echoed with reviews and appreciation throughout Europe, Northern and Southern America and even as far as Australia! After end of lockdowns we were able to play some gigs and actually bring it to live audiences and it kept us motivated to create more music, so two and a half years later we have prepared our second album “Road To Ecstasy” and it’s been a few weeks out now and already now we have had amazing comments and reviews about it! We did have some changes in our line-up due to our original members being in different countries( drummer and bassist), that being said we are now strong as ever and looking forward to playing live shows and promoting our music to new audiences!
How did you come up with the name of the band?
It’s a combination of first letters of Henrijs Leja and Stylianos Angelis. We had to come up with a band name back in 2020 and so among all the other ideas this came out as a winner!
You have just released your second album, ”Road to Ecstasy”. Which are your feelings about it? Which are your ambitions for the band and this new album?
I think with this new album we offer development in our style and at the same time we try to make sure that the music is great! At the same time we try to involve more importance into lyrics section. Some bands sing about dragons and it’s fine. Other bands sing about bad parents – and that’s fine also. We however try to implement a conversation about today’s big problems that people don’t really talk about in music anymore – corruption, the system that seems to be built not in favour of people but rather against them, greedy people who create wars only to earn more millions for themselves – you know the type of things metal music was talking about back in eighties and nineties!
Where would you trace the differences between your first and your second album? How much has the band progressed?
With every work you do you learn new things about the whole process , new experience teaches you and betters your Kungfu. So there’s certainly a development in that sense. On the other hand – this is not racing where you have to beat others – music is art and through art we communicate to others! So hopefully we have learnt to reflect things that are happening around us in a better way and as long as there are people coming to us and saying “You guys rock” I guess we are doing something right! 🙂
When and where was the new album recorded? Who was the producer? Who did the mixing and the mastering?
Well the drums were recorded in England as well as the rest of the instruments. The mixing and mastering was done by our original bassist Agnis Aldiņš in Riga, Latvia. Him and Henrijs were working on production side of things.
Which are your favorite songs from “Road To Ecstasy” and why?
Not a single band member agrees to have same favourite songs in the album so I guess we are privileged to play all of them and enjoy at the same time! The common ground is Sanctuary, Fight and title song “Road To Ecstasy”! They’re just objectively great tracks offering the kind of style we are creating.
Who writes the music and the lyrics in Helestios? How is a typical Helestios song composed?
The main ideas are composed by Henrijs – after that we put it all to vote which of the songs will make it further. Stylianos is the guy to put the solos on top. The lyrics so far been written by Henrijs as well.
How do you make decisions in Helestios?
Responsibly and with care, most of the time, haha
How would you describe your music in a few words? Which are your lyrical topics?
It’s a multi-layered metal music and we stand on people’s side in this global worldwide system that’s been more and more created against us normal people!
Describe the atmosphere and the feeling of your songs.
Aggresive, some people would probably say dark, technical and at the same time simple. All in general – good metal music for everyday situations of your daily life – whether you are having cereals for breakfast or stuck in a traffic or playing with rubber duck in a bathtub – Helestios is a great choice for next to put on play!
How did the pandemic affect you as musicians and as persons?
Well it’s one of the main reason why so many areas of life are still f**cked up… It did slow down majority of people – except if you are in government related company. Many people who started their small to medium business were simply forced to close it. The mortgages to banks, the rental payments – it all made impossible for many to carry on with their businesses and now they are thrown back and it will take them many years to recover. Yes sure for brands like Amazon it was perfect – no competition, just take the money. We see now that there are court cases raised against some of those who were responsible for ordering lockdowns – so hopefully the justice system still works and some of them will receive a lesson.
How much important are live concerts for you? Which are your plans for live shows/a tour?
Live shows are super important to us and I believe any musician in general! That’s the main reason we do it – the communication with people! We have aligned a list of shows throughout the summer and autumn within UK. Best is to come to our Facebook and Instagram page and follow there to see the news about live shows.
How do you see the world wide extreme metal scene? What do you have to offer to the scene? Why?
The music scene in general had been suffering due to lockdowns, so it’s a process of people getting used to going out again! What we have to offer? Great music with great power and lyrics that matter!
Send your message to the fans.
Thank you friends, fans and followers and haters for anything and everything you throw our way – it all makes us stronger! Even a smallest like or follow click keeps us going and motivated to do more. So best to do is come our social media platforms and press those follow and like buttons – they really make difference for us. Come buy our CDs on https://helestios.bandcamp.com/ that will help us even more! And hope we see you on our live shows! If we are not playing in your town – make a comment where would you like us to play and who knows – maybe because of that one comment we will go to that town! We are still young band and so we always look for new horizons! Stay strong and stay metal and thank you!
