Helder Oliveira

By Gonçalo Lemos Matias on Jan 5, 2012 in Cd Review | 0 comments

Album: For Eternity
Label: Author
Tracks: 8
Release Date: 2011
Length: n/a

Riff Score: 8.0/10

With “For Eternity”, Helder Oliveira makes a very strong statement in the guitar world, proving that high technical skills can coexist with very consistent themes – as it is clearly evident in each song revealing great maturity in composition. The level of virtuosity displayed in this release hints that this name is going to start to pop up often in conversations of guitar instrumental music.

From the first arpeggiated chords to the ambient pads that set the canvas, one would be eluded to think that this was just another album like so many others that rely on the typical melodic clichés, so present in contemporary guitar oriented music.

As soon as the lead melodies start to appear, this boring imagery is quickly shattered. The first track acts as a prelude to the storm that approaches… a mellow melody that eludes the listener into thinking that he’s in for a calm ride. On enters Illusion’s Paradise, with its furious pace and abundance of technical thrills. Vintage Megadeth instantly pops into my head, namely “Hangar 18” from “Rust in Peace”; there are a lot of licks and riffs that could easily be placed into that frame.

As a great compliment that can be, Helder Oliveira really proves that he is in great form, both in technical skills as in compositional taste; his diversity shows greatly in the third track “Believe” where things slow down into a heavier grinder with excellent transitions from fast paced riffage to slow acoustic passages.

The next track is “For Failure’s”, another mid tempo song with some very interesting hooks. In this one, Helder again surprises the listener with some very unexpected phrasings. The lyrical quality and diversity of “For Failure’s” make it a really good candidate for a video.

“Tears of my Soul” again slows things down, with a simpler, more accessible melody line. The leads in this track are again extremely diverse and their usage again underline the fact that we are in the presence of very tasteful composition – something very rare in the current days, where most players just shove every single technical phrase they’ve got without a cohesive guiding line.

Up next, the title track “For Eternity” that sports some interesting harmony lines, both in riffs and in leads; in this one we encounter some very exquisite sweeps (think Symphony X’s “Sea of Lies” from “The Divine Wings of Tragedy”) and some nice high speed playing.

“Twisted Voices Sound to Nowhere” is the seventh track, clocking at 12:10, which makes it the longest track on an album full of long tracks; the reason for this is the no compromise song structure that showcases some clever transitions and a very good understanding of light and shade. In this song Helder Oliveira again makes a very strong statement in terms of the will to guide the listener on a journey filled with peaks and valleys; the middle of the song has a delightful interlude with some very soulful ensemble moments – one of the album’s highlights.

The last piece is called “Life’s Unfair”, almost a ballad, but with a very intense middle section where shredding is mixed with a snare driven heroic theme that culminates on an introspective pad reflexion.

By: Gonçalo Lemos Matias