RSS Feed


HELMS DEEP
Chasing The Dragon

Nameless Grave (2025)
Rating: 8.5/10

Very much steeped in the mists of metal lore, sophomore full-length outing Chasing The Dragon is Florida’s Helms Deep once again nodding to the 80s. However, there’s so much more to this opus than just cheesy homage. Instead, this foursome frazzles the ears with some spellbinding axe work courtesy of frontman Alex Sciortino and new recruit Ray DeTone. Also, if you think that the bass is particularly thunderous it’s because it’s being hammered by Raven man John Gallagher.

Hal Aponte completes the line-up on drums which gallop hard on opener ‘Black Sefirot’, a pounding slab of molten steel heightened by the high and lower pitches of Sciortino who transported me back to 1988 with his fiery pipes. There are strong hints of Judas Priest here, especially when the ascending vocals and the power-cum-thrash leaps and bounds.

Like hot steel, there is a fluidity and sheen, especially with the drive of the title track and the immense ‘Flight Of The Harpy’. The way the songs build is majestic in its craft and then they unravel as steaming sprints which cast off beads of metallic, yet ice cool sweat. The fretwork is stunning, glinting and bursting with flame throughout.

Here is a band that has taken the metal genre by the thorns and delivered in a fashion that as fans we’d almost forgotten. The sheer power and intensity is a joy to behold as the album fuses old school thrash and scorching traditional metal. ‘Craze Of The Vampire’ boasts neo-classical wizardry that fuses Yngwie Malmsteen and King Diamond before entering a rather cosmic realm.

The album is littered with streaks of New Wave Of British Heavy Metal guided by the hand of Savatage; it literally smokes with grandiose panache, thickening with every pummeling riff and supersonic stride. Even so, there’s variety within the belly of the beast too, particularly on ‘Red Planet’, which drifts towards Pink Floyd, and the moodier rumbles of epic closing instrumental ‘Shiva’s Wrath’.

Often scintillating, Chasing The Dragon’s only downside is its length. At an nearly an hour it’s just too long, but if some of the fat had been trimmed down to, say, 40 minutes, then I may have opted for a 9 rating. However, this is still a powerhouse of an opus that I just can’t switch off at the moment. So, swords at the ready people, let’s go find us a dragon and kick its arse with some top-notch heavy metal.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share