LB: “Yeah, thanks Paul, we’re very happy with how well it’s being received so far. It’s still pretty early in the game but so far, I think people like what we’ve done. Some are a bit surprised at how aggressive the new stuff is and it’s taking them a while to let it soak in. But, you know, you’re never going to be able to please everyone and we don’t try to. We have to like what we’re creating first and foremost.”

PM: Yes, the album itself is much heavier, and has a lot more thrash influences than ‘The King Of Hell’ had. Was this natural evolution or was this a conscious effort during the song writing process?

LB: “Well, I think, for the most part, we used “King Of Hell” as a stepping stone to go in that direction. I think had we recorded “Glory Of Chaos” as our first album since the reunion, it might have been too much for the fans to grasp, you know? We eased everyone into the flow of this; to get used to us being this aggressive and heavy. Many people thought that we might try to recreate the past and try to do another “Remnants Of War” or “Nosferatu” but, we’ve never been the type of band that has the attitude of; “that worked last time, let’s just keep doing that”. Really, it’s a little bit of both. We feel very natural writing the aggressive and fast type of metal and we wanted to do an album like this, so it’s now the time for it.”

PM: Were there any musical influences/musicians at the back of your mind when pushing for greater heaviness, even though you have a well established brand and loyalty within the metal scene?

LB: “Ah well, you know, metal has changed so much over the years. Obviously those bands that we listen to have an influence on us. I’d be lying if I claimed that the bands we listen to don’t. But like you say, we’ve been doing this for a long time as well and we know how to take an idea and make it our own. You won’t be surprised when I tell you that Rob (Trevino) and I listen to a lot of Exodus, Testament and Korzus and those types of bands, but, at the same time, I don’t think that their influence is overbearing on what we do either!”

PM: The heavier moments have also displayed much more range to James’ already credible vocal ability; did this come easy, or did it necessitate a ‘try and try again’ regime?

LB. “No. James has what we like to call, many characters so throughout the recording we would say; “hey, use that black metal character or use your Halford-ish voice” and so on. For him it was very easy and natural. I think, in a way, he’s held back in the past, a little bit, but for this album, it was nice to have him just cut loose and try all kinds of different things. If it didn’t work, we would just move on and try one of his other characters until we found the right one.”

PM: Have you ever discussed the idea of tuning down steps further on the guitars and bass to make things even more “heavy”, like some bands have done recently? I guess this would throw off the vocals and phrasing a bit, and the intensity you have already got is perfect enough.

LB: Well, we actually do tune down a whole step now. That’s interesting, actually; no one has really ever mentioned that before. We actually tune down to D. We’ve done that on the last 3 albums. And yes, it was a bit of an adjustment for James because he kept thinking he needed to push the notes, but it works!!

I don’t anticipate us going any lower than D but I wouldn’t put it past us either. I just think, sometimes when you tune any lower than that, the notes are just not as distinguishable somehow?

PM: Relating to the above question, big thanks for not doing this (tuning lower)!

LB: Oh, for not tuning lower than D! No problem!! Ha! Ha!

PM: The album Glory of Chaos, hardly rests for one second during playback; you have a constant audible adrenaline rush when you listen to the album. How did you decide on the running order of the album?

LB: Well, once the recording was done, we just sat down and listened to it and tried to figure out a good flow. As we were arranging the songs we would listen to them in order and see if the flow was right. Obviously, we wouldn’t want to start the album with “Alma Negra”; we wanted to keep building up to that song; and then “Zero One” is like the relaxing cigarette after getting laid, Ha! Ha!

PM: Lovely!! Who did the artwork?

LB: It’s the same artist that did “King Of Hell.” His name’s Janne Pitkänen. He did an incredible job on this one!

PM: And, what made Mikey Lewis come back to the band on drums?

LB: Well, things just weren’t working out with Russ. Some things happened that we just weren’t happy with. He’s a great drummer and he’s still a good friend, but we had to make a change. Mikey actually played the Headbanger’s Open Air with us last year and right after that, we just felt that when the time came we would ask him to join again. It’s the best decision we’ve ever made. Mikey just takes us to another level. We can do things we have never been able to try before!

PM: Yes, at that Headbanger’s Open Air show last year; members of Viscous Rumors joined you on stage; would you say they are your closest musical compatriots? Would you like to collaborate with any other musicians live or in the studio?

LB: Well, you know, James actually joined them on stage too? (PM: No – cause we missed VR play!). We’re friends but we’re not close friends. I think we’re better friends with Agent Steel. Juan is my buddy! We hung out at NAMM last year and had a blast!! We actually tried to get Juan to play on the solo to one of the bonus tracks on this new record, but he went out that night and got just a little too drunk, ha! ha!

PM: How was the album release show with Raven?

LB: Yeah, that was a lot of fun! I didn’t get to hang out with them much, but for the little while we did see them, it was really good!! But they are great guys, anyway!!

PM: Will future European touring plans in December consider the UK this time? I see no UK dates planned! Maybe 2011?

LB: No, there’s no dates planned for the UK on this short run sadly, but I think we’re planning to do some more dates next year for sure. It’s really up to the promoters if they want to bring us over or not. We would love to play the UK; are you kidding me? But it’s really out of our control in a way. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!!

PM: Looking forward, do you have ideas waiting for the next release, or do you take one thing at a time?

LB: No, we’re pretty much done right now! Actually though, I know Jerry (Abarca) has some stuff that we’d like to work on someday, and I have a couple of riffs stored away as well, so we’ll see what happens. Hopefully, this album does well and we can see those ideas come to life?

PM: Did Helstar have any input on the recent re-mastered re-release/re-package “Rising From The Grave” on your former label? (Apart from the official live performance) I was not aware that those 3 releases were hard to come by nowadays, especially on the Internet.

LB: Well, they asked us to do the liner notes but that’s about all the input we had. I have a copy of it, but I haven’t listened to it or watched the video. I think they (the label) just wanted to capitalize on our newly found popularity? Which, to me, is ok; they’re putting out product for us. We can’t complain!

PM: Thank you so much for taking the time to conduct this interview, may I wish Helstar well, and congratulate you guys once again on a stunning metal release.

LB: Thanks Paul; thanks very much. The pleasure is mine, really!

PM: Any final thoughts, words?

LB: Just to say; ‘Thanks to all the fans for keeping us going’... Now go forth and spread the “Glory Of Chaos”!

For more on the band check out http://www.myspace.com/helstar

Interviewed by Paul Maddison

MTUK HOME