Sometimes you can tell a one-man Black Metal band easier than others. And this is one of them. It’s something about the instruments feel separated from each other to where it doesn’t feel like a band. However, Heolstor doesn’t do a bad job overall. Hailing from Madrid, Spain, CHAINS OV BELETH provide a mid-tempo delivery of Black Metal that seems… uneventful. While the songs aren’t bad by any means, there’s no energy or movement. The second track ‘Breath Of Disease’ gets going pretty well with some classic sounding echoing vocals. But then the singing comes in. And the spoken words which sound like a king is speaking to his knights before a battle. However, I don’ think it’s supposed to be a king, which is confusing and hard to listen to. ‘Spirit Of Guidance – Darkness Eternal’ picks up the pace a little, even though it seems Heolstor has listened to a little too much ISENGARD. The album plods on with more mediocre tracks. Some of the, such as ‘Thus Perish The Defeated ‘, are actually enjoyable. But put all the tracks together and you have an album that never really gets going, that doesn’t kick you in the teeth like you wish it would. The band has since changed its name to MYSTAGOS. It’ll be interesting to see the direction Heolstor takes with the new moniker. www.satanath.com