It is hard to believe that Helstar has been around 30 years. It seems like just yesterday, when me and the crew were banging our heads at Cardi's, to our home town heroes. Helstar has just released their performance from the 30th anniversary show, filmed in their hometown of Houston, called 30 years of Hell. It is aptly titled considering the Houston metal scene. Houston's scene was descent back in the day, but never emerged as a scene to rival either coast. Helstar luckily emerged from the scene and made a name for themselves; hence the longevity of the band.
30 Years of Hell is a nice package, containing a DVD along with 2 CD's of this historic performance. The DVD was shot with multiple cameras and is on film rather than video. That band looks different than they did 30 years ago, but the important thing is, that the sound was not affected. Rivera and Co. sound as good as they did back in the day. The audio on the DVD as well as the CD's, is spot on. The band were on top of their game that night, and this package is a testament to how good they are. The set list is comprised of material spanning their career. Nice set list, but was scratching my head with the omission of Dracula's Castle. I'm just saying.
Bottom Line: Metal Veterans proving they can still do it live. For those of you that missed Helstar bakc in the day, this is a great way to aquaint yourself with one of the more underated thrash acts of the 80'/90's.
-Ragman remembers the time he could not lift his head, after attending a Helstar show back in the day. Talk about being in pain....Ughhh!!!