Destiny’s End

Helstar – The Wicked Nest Review

Helstar – The Wicked Nest Review

By Steel Druhm on April 29, 2014 in 2014, AFM Records, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal, 7 comments

“Helstar is a band I’ve always held close to my metal heart. I grew up with them and their early albums were always big favorites. Their Burning Star debut was a classic slice of early American metal and featured the godly “Run With the Pack,” which I slotted in at #8 of my best metal songs of all time. Follow-ups Remnants of War and Distant Thunder were pure, balls to the walls, classic metal with attitude, and 1989s Nosferatu introduced a more thrashy, yet neo-classical style that hit hard and left a lasting impression.” Can the 2014 Helstar still wow Steel the Fanboy?

Vicious Rumors – Razorback Killers Review

Vicious Rumors – Razorback Killers Review

By Steel Druhm on March 23, 2011 in 2011, 4.0, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, SPV, Heavy Metal, 1 comment

2011 is turning out to be a great year for metal thus far. I find myself giving out 4.0 and 4.5 left and right and there’s lots of new stuff I’m really enjoying. With all due modesty, I caused this to happen by predicting the new Belphegor would be one of my top picks unless we had a truly banner year in metal. Well, you can thank your beloved Steel Druhm for the self-jinx by sending him all the finest ales, meats and cheeses from across the lands. Moving on, we come to another surprisingly good release, this time by long running San Francisco vets Vicious Rumors. These chaps have been knocking around since 1979 and put out some great albums early in their career like their self-titled opus and Welcome to the Ball (their debut even featured mega guitar ace Vinnie Moore). After the tragic death of vocalist Carl Albert in 1995, there was a long dry spell of lackluster and mediocre albums and not until 2006’s Warball did they truly get back into vintage fighting shape again. After a lengthy wait, they finally return with Razorback Killers and once again show themselves capable of much ass kickery and name takery.