Warthur Glory of Chaos is not quite as strikingly groundbreaking as Helstar's classic run of early US Power Metal albums - it's not even in the same style, to begin with, the band having shifted gear to an aggressive, screamy, Exodus-with a-bad-hangover style of thrash metal, and thrash is a field which feels like there's very little genuinely new to accomplish there. Nonetheless, despite shifting from one well-trod genre to an even more well-trod genre with more competition, Helstar still manage to turn in a quality album which stands out from the pack - not so much that I consider it particularly essential, but enough so that if you cannot get enough thrash you could do way, way worse than giving Helstar a fair shake.

Unitron Helstar-Glory of Chaos

After the thrash-fest of 'The King of Hell', Helstar stays on the thrash-path they have began to trek. Unlike the previous album however, 'Glory of Chaos' shows more speed added to the mix.

The album begins with the menacing 'Angels Fall to Hell', which begins with traditional riffing before transitioning to the thrash and speed riffs. Most of the songs on this album are similar, 'Pandemonium', 'Bone Crusher', 'Deathtrap' etc, all are thrash-speed heaven. 'Anger' has somewhat of a Spreading the Disease-era Anthrax feel, with fast riffing and the vocals are quite similar to that album. 'Summer of Hate' and 'Trinity of Heresy' are more melodic, and the closer 'Alma Negra' is probably one of the most intense moments in metal history.

The lyrics are what you would expect from an album called 'Glory of Chaos'. They make you want to kick some ass and release a primal scream. Constant barrages of double-bass combined with lyrics about death, slaughter, anger, and using religion as an excuse to kill will certainly fit perfectly with something like a game of Mortal Kombat.

I don't have much else to say, it's a simply a thrash-filled funfest. Another flawless release by Helstar.

Hope you found this review helpful.

Feel free to comment!

Time Signature The glory of metal...

Genre: thrash metal

Helstar's latest relewase "Glory of Chaos" is a lesson in old school speed/thrash metal, as it contains almost nothing but fast songs with riffage at breakneck speed, fast drumming and aggressive singing. Only the track "Summer of Hate" is midtempo, and the closing track "Zero One" is a short mellow soft song with mellow clean guitars - the perfect way to finish off this infernal thrash fest.

The singer, James Rivera, has a very versatile voice along the lines of Tim Owens, and on this album he offers clean singing, harsh singing, screaming and even a bit of growling and snarling. Great job.

I think that this album should appeal to fans of old school thrash metal and old school speed metal.