LivingForMetal.com recently sat down with HELSTAR guitarist and original member Larry Barragan to discuss the band's first new album in over 20 years, entitled The King Of Hell. An excerpt follows:

LivingForMetal.com: I can honestly say that The King Of Hell is the darkest, heaviest and best produced album of Helstar's career. In my opinion this is your Master Of Puppets. I was truly blown away when I first heard The King Of Hell... and I had high expectations, mind you. What was your mindset going into the writing and recording of 'King'? How was the process different from the last album Sins Of The Past ?

Larry Barragan: "We approached this CD no different from any of the other albums we've done. We just wanted to make the best possible album we could make. Obviously our influences are different now than they were back in the day and I think the songs reflect that. We had a little more time with this one so we were really able to work on getting better sounds all the way around. The guitar sound and drum sound are much better than they were on Sins Of The Past."

LivingForMetal.com: I really thought the eerie and evil sounding intro to the title track The King Of Hell added to the darkness of the album and matched the hell-ish cover art as well, was that always the intention to have the album start off with a dark intro and song? What other songs are you most proud of on The King Of Hell?

Larry Barragan: "When we finished writing the title track we knew we had something that we could run with and once we got the girls in to do the vocals part of the intro it kind of snowballed into this really killer intro.  I]'m proud of the CD as a whole, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be the title track."

LivingForMetal.com: Looking back on the last three years, what are some of your thoughts and highlights and what expectations do you have for the new album?

Larry Barragan: "The festivals in Europe have been amazing. That has been the highlight so far for me. As far as my expectations for the new CD, I think it will do well. Obviously our market is in Europe so I hope we can do a nice tour to support the album nd then see what happens from there. At the same time, I'm not sure how the album will be accepted by the fans.  Like you said it's very heavy and dark and some fans may not be ready for that."

Head here for the whole interview.

As previously reported, The King Of Hell is scheduled for release in September via AFM Records. "The US release should be about three months later," according to a press release.

The King Of Hell tracklisting: 'The King Of Hell', 'The Plague Called Man', 'Tormentor', 'When Empires Fall', 'Wicked Disposition', 'Caress Of The Dead', 'Pain Will Be Thy Name', 'In My Darkness', 'The Garden Of Temptation'.