The downside of albums released in late December is that they rarely appear on lists with the best albums of the year and may be overlooked. I’ve also noticed that the number of albums released in December each year is decreasing. “Hey Living People” is an album that falls into the above category and would be a shame to go unnoticed for whatever reason. But let’s take things from the very start. Dominum is a new band that was formed by songwriter and producer Felix Heldt (Feuerschwanz, Visions of Atlantis, and more) on vocals in the character of Dr. Dead. Felix has by his side Jochen Windisch as Tommy (Winterstorm, Maerzfeld, ex-Hyrax) on guitars, Marcos Feminella as Victor (Stormental, Katre, Moran Magal, ex-In Legend) on drums, and Korbinian Benedict as Patient Zero (Ad Infinitum, Tramp Cats BigBand, The Dark Side of the Moon) on bass. Quite a team, you could say, eh?!!
Musically, the band blends melodic metal, power metal, heavy metal, symphonic metal, and horror metal, along with some theatrical elements here and there. They also have a gothic and horror aesthetic cuz of their lyrical themes, which deal with dark stories. The production is dynamic, tight, and full. The debut was produced by band leader and main songwriter Felix Heldt and recorded in collaboration with the renowned Jacob Hansen (Amaranthe, Arch Enemy, Katatonia, Delain, Evergrey, etc.), who also did the mixing and the mastering.
The superb musicianship, strong songwriting, great vocals, and catchy melodies combine to create a compelling outcome that will excite fans of melodic metal music with dark themes. The album starts with the super hit “Immortalis Dominum”… and continues with other exceptional songs such as “Danger Danger”, “Hey Living People”, “Cannibal Corpses”, “Patient Zero”, “Frankenstein”, “Better Shoot Yourself”, “Half Alive”, and “The Chosen Ones”.
Furthermore, the band includes three covers of some well-known tracks, like “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” by Dead Or Alive, “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish, and “Beds are Burning” by Midnight Oil. All the covers are nicely done with their personal musical touch.
All in all, “Hey Living People” is an impressive debut album that showcases the band’s musical talent. With their debut album, Dominum have set the bar high for themselves, and their future seems to be very promising indeed. If you’re looking for an entertaining, intense, and theatrical metal album, then you should look no further.
