I Helvete have set Halla, their third album, for 6 November, and put two songs from it up ahead of the release. The Finnish band play melodic death metal with the black metal side kept audible rather than decorative, which is a narrower line to walk than either genre on its own.
They formed in 2018 in Seinajoki and have not been slow: two albums, a long run of singles and now a third record inside eight years. The two previews, Nalkatalvi and Hiljaisuuteen, went up separately over the last months rather than as a single announcement, which is how a band with no large label behind it keeps a record in front of people.
The title means frost. On the evidence of what is out so far the album keeps the cold, melodic writing the band have built on, with the tremolo lines carrying the melody and the pace changing more often than the mood does.