Helios used to be called Storm Dragon but changed names when they ditched their original lead singer and brought in Pharaoh's Tim Aymar to abuse the microphone. Touch the Sun is their debut and is a traditional metal affair with some power and thrash elements woven in. I like Aymar's work in Pharaoh, but find his delivery a bit grating in his other outlets (see Angband), and that continues with Helios. He is powerful, to be sure, but I find him screamy at times. I much prefer when he dials the aggression back and just sings, like on the ballad, "You Knew it All Along." There's a lot of angry punch to cuts like "Fire from the Sky" or "Ancient One" and lyrically it gets kind of dark on "Like a Gun" and "Kill Your Mother," songs that had me thinking of Sacred Steel and A Tortured Soul. The rawness is occasionally offset with keyboards, and I'm reminded of bands like Rainbow and Michael Schenker Group on "Hellbender" between the soulful vocal lines, melodic riffs and snappy guitar work. I like some of the songs on Touch the Sun, but others don't land that well, so I find it a mixed bag.