''Helios / Erebus'' is the seventh studio album by Irish

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

band

God Is An Astronaut God Is an Astronaut are an Irish post-rock band from County Wicklow, formed in 2002 by Niels and Torsten Kinsella. Their style employs elements of electronic music, krautrock, and space rock, reminiscent of Tangerine Dream. The band currently co ...

. It was released through Revive Records on June 21, 2015. The album was recorded and produced by guitarist Torsten Kinsella, then mastered by Tim Young at Metropolis Mastering in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In March 2015 the band revealed an album preview along with a string of spring tour dates throughout Europe to promote the release.

Themes

The album artwork is based on

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

art designed by bassist Niels Kinsella. Torsten Kinsella said that the Greek words and imagery were not necessarily related to any central theme, rather they were “names that suited the tracks”. He described the album as having “moments of darkness in it...moments of brightness” a “darker record” conceived from an idea of “apocalyptic culture”. The album is named after the Greek mythological God

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the deity, god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyper ...

, the

personification Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...

of the Sun, and Erebus, the embodiment of darkness. In accordance to the general ancient and mythological subject matter, some of the tracks found on ''Helios Erebus'' feature

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

words and phrases." Furthering in its reference to ancient mythology, the opening track "Agneya" is named after the

daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show relations between groups ...

of the

God of Fire This is a list of deities in fire worship. African mythology Yoruba mythology * Ogun, fire god and patron of blacksmiths, iron, warfare, metal tools * Ọya, goddess of fire, wind, transforms into buffalo, fertility * Shango, god of thunder and f ...

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and reg ...

. Despite no central theme in any specific culture, Kinsella upholds that "mysterious ancient civilizations like the Greeks, Vikings, Mayas, Aztecs ndEgyptians" are a constant source of inspiration.

Reception

Upon release the album received generally positive reviews among critics. Jordan Blum of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' gave the album a positive review describing it as having “dazzling atmospheres, riveting textural bursts, and poignant serenity”. Rich Buley of ''Broken Amp'' said the album was “one of their finest”, “darkest and densest albums to date” and that “amongst all the blazing intensity are passages of gorgeous, drifting ambience” with “versatility and progressive attitude”.

Track listing

Personnel

; God Is An Astronaut * Torsten Kinsella - guitars, keyboards, vocals, programming * Niels Kinsella - bass * Lloyd Hanney - drums * Jamie Dean - keyboards, guitars, vocals ; Production * Torsten Kinsella – producer, engineering * Tim Young – mastering * Niels Kinsella – artwork, design ; Additional musicians * Jimi Scanlan - additional guitar on “Centralia”

References

{{Authority control 2015 albums God Is an Astronaut albums Revive Records albums