There’s nothing new under the sun, so they say, but, contrarian so and sos that they are, Norway’s Helheim have sought to disprove this tried n’tested old adage with new album HrabnaR/Ad vesa…

‘How have they done that?’ I hear you cry, and I’m glad you asked – unbelievably, they’ve done a split LP with themselves!

Crazy I know, but the band’s two primary songwriters, in a move that would have had Lennon and McCartney scratching their heads in incomprehension, have divvied up a ‘side’ each of the new album and written it themselves!

That’s right. Singing guitarist H’grimnir has taken the first four songs, whilst V’gandr, the singing bassist, handles tracks five to eight. And, though there is a difference between the two sets, the band are tight enough to give a cohesive performance through both sides that means you probably wouldn’t even know such songwriting trickery was afoot had I not told you.

Getting down to the nitty gritty, I probably find the first four tracks more to my liking as they weave a slightly psyched-out, progressive edge into the band’s black metal attack; That said, my fave track is probably Hamingja, which resides in the album’s second half, and as noted there’s a nifty cohesion about the whole thing that rewards repeated playing.

You have to give props to the band for trying something a little out of left field, but to be honest these two songwriters, who have been connected for over thirty years, work so well together that there is, in effect, little or no jar between the songwriting sides of Helheim. Long term fans will still find much to enjoy in the material on offer, and I have to say that the (slightly] more metaphysical second half might even draw in a few new fans into the bargain. But whatever, this is certainly well worth a listen.

HrabnaR/Ad vesa releases on June 20th.