During the pandemic, when neither concerts nor rehearsals were possible, the members of BELLHAVEN exchanged song ideas with each other. During the first joint rehearsal for a long time in April 2021, this resulted in the basic structure for “Tavern Tales”, the debut of the troupe from NRW.
Father Christopher (g./keys) and son Aaron Blenker (dr.), bassist Rudi Lauer and frontman Jörg “Grö” Schmid have done a good job, because you really don’t hear on the disc that this is the band’s debut at. Hooky heavy metal with catchy tunes (‘Autumn Seed’, ‘Starlink’) meets rougher tones (‘Mean Machine’), singer Grö is correspondingly versatile. In terms of content, the record revolves around an evening in a tavern, where eight (partly) fictional characters each tell a story (a song). If you have a preference for melodic, but not polished metal with smack and subtle prog touches, you’ve come to the right place.
01 – Autumn Seed
02 – A Last Glance
03 – Mean Machine
04 – Spirals
05 – Beg to Differ
06 – Starlink
07 – Crystal Rain
08 – Sky Moves Sideways