HELSTAR began their epic journey back in 1984 with the release of their debut ‘Burning Star’. Since then, they’ve created quite a legacy for themselves, evolving more and more from just basic Heavy Metal to more of a hybrid of Speed and Thrash Metal. Despite hiccups along the way, including nearly a twelve year hiatus from 1995 to 2007, the band came back and proved they were still true to their formula with another three albums that still ran well with critics and fans alike. Now, thirty years later and still going for it, this Texan outfit felt it was time to celebrate in a live fashion. ‘30 Years…’ isn’t the first live album that HELSTAR has released, but it spans over 20 tracks of fan favorites and choice cuts. All recorded in the band’s hometown of Houston, the crisp production lets listeners hear the music on an intense level that will appeal to most fans of Thrash in general. Let it be noted to new listeners that this is not Modern Thrash or Modern Metal. The expectation of crushing riffs mixed with harsh and clean vocals are not going to be present. For the most part, the base of the music is going to sound like Power Metal with tracks like ‘Suicidal Nightmare’ and ‘Harker’s Tale’.
Of course there are some faster, thrashy tracks included. ‘To Sleep Per Chance To Scream’ and ‘Monarch Of Bloodshed’ pick up the pace quite a bit. The vocals aren’t quite as raw as heard in a band like SLAYER or EXODUS, but the music is right on par with them. True to Power Metal fashion storytelling is a very important aspect of HELSTAR, and the slower, darker tracks like ‘Winds Of War’ reflect this. Even the epics like ‘Baptized In Blood’ carry their own weight without feeling like they ran on too long. Unfortunately what is sorely missing from the “live atmosphere” of the album is the presence of the audience. While the band does take time between tracks to interact and talk with their fans in the crowd, sometimes it feels like they’re talking to a wall because the reaction seems so empty. While many of us know that is not really the case (the fans are probably going crazy out there after every speech), the recording process does not reflect this. It seems more like the mics were aimed towards the band and the filtering of the sound was meant to get that crystal clean sound, but cut out all the important things that make a live album a live album. For the average HELSTAR fan, this will seem more like a solid best of to enjoy. To new fans, it’s a good place to start, but at the same time twenty tracks might be too much of a good thing to taste all at once.
CD 1:
01. Angels Fall To Hell 05:11
02. Towards The Unknown 04:37
03. Suicidal Nightmare 05:06
04. The King Is Dead 04:26
05. Burning Star 03:36
06. To Sleep Per Chance To Scream 06:05
07. The Plague Called Man 05:15
08. Evil Reign 04:26
09. Monarch Of Bloodshed 05:31
CD 2:
01. Winds Of War 06:11
02. Good Day To Die 04:32
03. Wicked Disposition 08:16
04. Pandemonium 04:50
05. Bitter End 04:19
06. Harker’s Tale 04:48
07. Angel Of Death 06:07
08. Baptized In Blood 08:17
09. Alma Negra 06:48
10. The King Of Hell 07:51
11. Run With The Pack 09:02