Helstar is Back .. and Better!
Classic Power Metal never sounded so good.
The Texas metal merchants known as Helstar started in the early 80s but have now brought back the nucleus of the original line-up to release the new disc The King of Hell. This album will not be released in the States for a couple months but new tracks can be sampled at the Helstar Website. And fans of classic power metal will not be disappointed. Trust me. The musicians look a lot older but their music has matured to a higher level.
This was the type of thrashy, beefy-riffed, screaming-vocals, headbanging that made heavy metal so intense and enjoyable back in the 80s. This was before hair metal and glam metal exploded like a cherry bomb and maimed the genre; before growling and gurgling vocals became cliche and commonplace in metal’s resurrection.
If you loved what Rob Halford did with his solo projects, believe it or not, this is along the same lines and even better.
My only complaint is that the album art is so ridiculously cliche and stupid (see below). Not the quality of the artist. It is the subject matter: Satan sitting on top of a throne as the earth crumbles in the background. I always hated this bullshit. Not only because it is certainly Spinaltap but maybe it is the non-religious person I generally am (on the other side of the coin, Stryper, for instance, creates the same negative effect on me). I don’t want to be hearing shit about demons, angels, or any of that nonsense. It’s fantasy garbage 101. There’s so much other subjects to tackle as far as lyrics or imagery. Dig deeper, Helstar. In fact, this reminds me of all the cheesey album covers Metal Blade Records put out throughout the years. Metal Blade owner, Brian Slagel, was a visionary as far as good metal music was concerned. But he had no sense when it came to artwork and imagery. Metal Blade Records put out some of the most hideous artwork of our time. Some of it just plain awful (for example, look at the first Slayer LP, Show No Mercy)
But I digress. Ignore that and listen to the most important part: the music. It is classic power metal at its best. For those of you who have been waiting for that kind of metal to dominate again, here is your savior.
