Artist: Helstar
Label: AFM Records
Release: 2010
Rating: 5/5
“Glory Of Chaos” confirms the stellar comeback form of the legendary Texan speed/thrashers Helstar, first embodied by the album “The King Of Hell” in 2008. After a few failed reunion attempts, Helstar finally found common ground four years ago and, with the “Remnants Of War” lineup, made a killer comeback record. “The King Of Hell” served up a great mix of the classic Helstar lingo from their brilliant eighties work, with an extra dose of the aggression of new-era thrash metal structures woven in.
“Glory Of Chaos” digs even deeper into that aggression. It’s the heaviest thing the band has put out in their long career of preaching metal. And yet it’s clear that with “Glory Of Chaos” Helstar still keep their one-of-a-kind, instantly recognizable identity. By injecting aggression through venomously wound riffing, which the new album embodies even more strongly than “The King Of Hell”, Helstar carry on bringing some musical elements from the turn of the millennium into a new era. I’m talking about the two unforgettable Destiny’s End albums. On the other hand, in the choice of lead riffs and the actual “shredding”, the new Helstar feel more than ever like they’re rubbing shoulders with elements introduced to the world by their heavier colleagues like Exodus or Testament (e.g. the song Summer Of Hate, or by far the heaviest track on the album, Alma Negra, with James Rivera’s especially bestial screaming front and center). But like I said. Helstar have kept their strict identity in everything. Thanks to an inherited sense for working in melody. Even though the lead riffs of the songs are knitted together with half-step transitions that carry the rage, malice and relentless biting that only thrash metal can deliver, Helstar have once again decked out every song on “Glory Of Chaos” with a generous helping of fine melodies, which puts them in a special place in the world of thrash metal. Another hugely important factor in that one-of-a-kind stance is of course the vocals of the unique singer James Rivera.
James, who hit the big five-oh this year, is incredible. In 2010 his voice sounds completely preserved, fresh and aggressive, just like on the debut “Burning Star” from 1984. His signature approach, which recalls a cross between Rob Halford at his best (devastating yet melodically clean screaming in the highest registers) and Ronnie James Dio (the authoritative shaping and delivery of verses in stanzas and/or pre-choruses, not to mention the lyrical themes themselves), is the factor without which there is no Helstar. That’s why “Glory Of Chaos” is an outstanding album in every respect. Inspired by exceptional creative freshness, which proves Helstar have caught the right working chemistry, with the untamed, uncompromising attitude that every proudly standing champion of thrash metal demands, shining through a production of the “sweet sound” of utterly destructive proportions on the new album.
The new record knows no mercy. It’s a slap in the face from one song to the next. And really, any one of them in the running order could have been picked as the album opener. The riffs make no secret of their sparkling creativity. At the same time, proof of their expressive power is the definition of extraordinary variety that Larry Barragan and Robert Trevino still have in the new millennium. That’s why the songs grab you from the first listen and have even the most stubborn thrash metal head galloping without any trouble. Simple as that. “Glory Of Chaos” is manna for metalheads. It carries that red thread of classic esotericism from the innocent days of the early eighties, when one-of-a-kind acts appeared on the planet in the USA who wanted to play even faster and more shockingly than their always slightly epic-occult British brothers of the N.W.O.B.H.M. No planting flowers here. Setting aside the general fame of the big names Metallica, Slayer and/or Megadeth, that era produced many other standouts, from Laaz Rockit, Sacred Reich, Agent Steel and Testament, etc… among whom Helsar are just one of the torchbearers who helped the thrash metal scene flourish, even if their pedigree of an exceptional dose of melody-making always puts them in a special place within the movement. In the light of that strong trait of well-placed melodies, “Glory Of Chaos” inherited an element from the old-timers of speed metal (especially prominent in Trinity Of Heresy).
“Glory Of Chaos” keeps a clear focus even in the instrumental middle sections and doesn’t lose a speck of the charge of the furious thrash metal potency that Helstar build up in the choruses and verses. There’s no room for weakness or wavering here. Not for a single moment do we run into that sense of fragmentation that was occasionally typical of Helstar in the eighties. Of course, you have to take into account the band’s desire back then to experiment and explore new musical horizons, which liked to wander into intricately built passages between the individual lead motifs. On “Glory Of Choas” you don’t feel that, just as you didn’t on “The King Of Hell”, which is proof of the final shaping of Helstar’s artistic character since 2008. Helstar are polished, matured old tomcats who simply relax and enjoy themselves in the studio and give in to creative inspiration. And that’s the greatest strength a position in music-making can offer you, if you grasp it and of course know how to use it to your advantage.
That’s why “Glory Of Chaos” is an album of outstanding thrash metal hygiene and proven creative intelligence, showing that Helstar are still evolving, even though there are no major stylistic gaps between “The King Of Hell” and the new album, apart from the greater compactness of the new songs and the even more pronounced destructiveness of the riffs in the production of the new sound. Last but not least, the two outstanding covers found only on the CD edition for the European market are proof of the unbridled adventurism that drives Helstar relentlessly forward in the creative process of the new millennium. If you don’t know the Saxon and Scorpions classics, you’d have no trouble thinking they were authentic Helstar material. This is where the strength and know-how of the best in the business are hiding. Both classics are tailored as if Helstar had written them. Where the guitars can’t “Helstar-ize” and “twist” the foundations of the two classics, Rivera does it, hitting those half-step verse deliveries over the riff melody as needed.
So there are no obstacles for Helstar. Even in 2010. Alongside the comeback album from Heathen with the (interestingly!) very similar title “Evolution Of Chaos” (2010), “Glory Ot Chaos” is today the closest thing to a modern take on thrash metal that carries a firmly rooted, pioneering face of eighties classicism. You could call it a living fossil today, or the evolutionary link of a one-of-a-kind offer to step into a time machine, which with its intelligence never stops stirring up your spirit and imagination, whether you’re pushing the years forward or backward on your time vessel. “Glory Of Chaos” is an utterly venomous and brand new one-of-a-kind Helstar album!
Lineup
James Rivera – vocals
Larry Barragan – guitar
Rob Trevino – guitar
Jerry Abarca – bass
Mikey Lewis – drums
Track list
1. Angels Fall To Hell
2. Pandemonium
3. Monarch Of Bloodshed
4. Bone Crusher
5. Summer Of Hate
6. Dethtrap
7. Anger
8. Trinity Of Heresy
9. Alma Negro
10. Zero One
BONUS TRACKS:
11. Heavy Metal Thunder
12. Animal Magnetism
