In 2010 you would have needed to be living under a rock to have not seen all the press attention aimed at the so-called "big four" of Thrash Metal touring together. Whilst every Heavy Metal fan's head is being filled with nostalgia from days gone by the media largely appears to have forgotten that whilst these four bands have released legendary albums in their time, they haven't (well Megadeth aside) managed to regain former glories on that front.  These days if you want to hear great "balls to the wall" Thrash Metal and relive those days when you could squeeze easily into a 30 inch waist pair of Bill Stunt stretch jeans and windmill all night without ending up in the doctors surgery the following morning then you really need to be checking out the latest releases from the underdogs of the Thrash Metal scene. Overkill, Exodus, Forbidden and Death Angel all proving that nearly three decades on they are still more than capable of delivering the goods.

Along with newer bands such as Municipal Waste, Evile, Bonded By Blood and from Houston Texas... Helstar.

Wait! Hang on a minute.

Only when 'researching' Helstar on receiving their latest release 'Glory Of Chaos' did I realise that these Metaller's have in fact been delivering the goods since 1982, their debut release 'Burning Star' being released on Combat Records, home of Megadeth and Exodus at the time.  The band reforming after a 15-year hiatus in 2001 that culminated in 2006's album 'Sins Of The Past.'

Now the reason for my initial assumption regarding the band is that upon listening to 'Glory Of Chaos' I just couldn't believe that music this heavy and powerful was being played by men old enough to know much better.  From the sucker punch opening of 'Angels Fall To Hell' featuring some truly phenomenal shredding and soloing from guitarists Larry Barragan and Rob Trevino, to the closing number 'Zero One' this album delivers the goods and then some.  If Thrash Metal is your Metal genre of choice then you really have to check out 'Bonecrusher' and 'Dethtrap', two perfect slabs of prime time thrash that will simply leave you battered and bruised but screaming for more.  For fans of more traditional old school Heavy Metal then check out 'Pandemonium' and 'Summer Of Hate'. 

'Glory Of Chaos' really is a near perfect Heavy Metal album, along with the aforementioned guitar work, Helstar also feature a fantastic rhythm section courtesy of bass player Jerry Abarca and the ferocious kick drum duties of Mikey Lewis.  But for me personally I cannot end this review without mentioning the fantastic vocals of James Rivera. This guy has the most intense set of pipes I've heard in quite a while, perfectly displayed on 'Alma Negra' a brutal Speed Metal number that see's him spitting out the lyrics with sheer bile and venom.  That is not to say that this album sounds dated in any way, no it is to the contrary, this album feels fresh and vibrant whilst somehow tapping into the original excitement I got from the scene when I was a youth.

So if you want to really discover what was so great and exciting about the Thrash scene in the mid eighties then you could do much worse than grab yourself a copy of 'Glory Of Chaos', you will probably just need to order a larger size in those Bill Stunt jeans.

 http://www.myspace.com/helstar