Coming by way of Poland is HELLVETO’s fourteenth full-length album since 2002, “Wiara, Nadzieja… Potepienie”. It is comprised of 2 discs, the first being Pagan Metal, and the second, of an entirely symphonic nature. I’ll be direct, disc 2 was a tedious exercise in ‘epic’ keyboard music. 3 tracks, none under 20 minutes – this is the music you hear when you are at the ‘hit start’ screen of a fantasy video game. This supports my assertion that Metal guys should never attempt symphonic music (with the sole exception being WARDRUNA). Disc 1 fares much better, being in the style of later GRAVELAND; that is, mid-paced Slavic Black Metal with pronounced keys and acoustic guitars. HELLVETO has a much more ‘dark gypsy’ vibe than does Darken’s project, as witnessed most prominently on the ‘Gdy Ogien U Bram Zaplonal’ track. Sole member L.O.N. can be proud of his (Metal) tracks, as its obvious lots of thought was put into the arrangements, and the balanced mix allows all the musical elements to breathe. In sum, although HELLVETO is definitely not my cup of tea, the professional production and dedication all-around makes “Wiara, Nadzieja… Potepienie” recommendable to fans of the atmospheric Slavic style. www.myspace.com/hellveto, www.pagan-records.com