HELSTAR - review added 29th October 2010
Album Review: Glory Of Chaos (2010)
For fans of: Heavy Metal... and bands with long histories
US metal band Helstar - currently James Rivera on vocals, Larry Barragan and Rob Trevino on guitars, Jerry Abarca on bass, and Mikey Lewis on drums - originally formed back in 1981. Debut album "Burning Star" came out in 1984, and tours with numerous big names followed.
The band have steadily released albums over the years, with the occasional sabbatical or line-up change along the way. "Glory Of Chaos" follows "The King Of Hell" from 2008. They have also released "Rising from the Grave" in 2010; which includes a couple of remastered albums and a DVD.
"Glory Of Chaos" sees the band pumping out a badass heavy sound that takes plenty of cues from straight-ahead heavy metal alongside thrash, power and even some death metal. This is a heavy album by any measure and is both aggressive and accessible in equal measures. Think along the lines of Judas Priest's heaviest moments mixed with Megadeth, Slayer, and Deicide (with the evil removed) and you'll be in the right ballpark.
Best moments include the cheesy but fun opener, 'Angels Fall To Hell', the utterly brilliant 'Pandemonium', the bombastic 'Monarch Of Bloodshed', the break-neck 'Bone Crusher', the chugging 'Summer Of Hate', the riot-inducing speed of 'Dethtrap', the thrashy 'Anger', the near-thoughtful 'Trinity Of Heresy', and the deadly 'Alma Negra'. Even the less-than-a-minute 'Zero One' is interesting. As you may have noticed, all the tracks are kind of cool.
In summation...
Yeah, so this is a bloody good metal release. It'll make you ears bleed and your neck stiff, and that's not much more you can ask for from this sort of album!
Check out... All of it.
Track List:
01. Angels Fall To Hell
02. Pandemonium
03. Monarch Of Bloodshed
04. Bone Crusher
05. Summer Of Hate
06. Dethtrap
07. Anger
08. Trinity Of Heresy
09. Alma Negra
10. Zero One
Label: AFM Records
Artist's website(s): Helstar | MySpace | Facebook
