Artist: Helstar
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release: 1988
Length: 43:17
Rating: 4.5/5
With their third album, Helstar jumped a good few steps up the ladder of musical charisma, at least as far as the evolution of their metal sermon goes. Around that time singer James Rivera got the itch for studio work and the band moved to Los Angeles. But only for a year. I don’t know exactly how well James did in the studio, but that year brought a few important moments in Helstar’s career.
Even though guitarist Larry Baragan already had plenty of riffs and songs written for the new album, the move shook Helstar’s stability and the lineup went through changes. From the “Remnants Of War” lineup, only James Rivera, Larry Baragan and bassist Jerry Abarca stayed on for “A Distant Thunder”. Convinced that they’d have no trouble finding a pile of musicians in Los Angeles who’d just line up to join them, they almost broke their teeth on that test. Drummer Frank Ferreira even turned out to be from San Antonio, which isn’t that far from Houston, Helstar’s hometown, even though the guys met him in Los Angeles of all places. Despite countless auditions, the guitar slot was eventually filled by “Houstonian” Andre Corbin, after Helstar had already returned to Houston.
Gamble aside, during that year of “sightseeing” Helstar landed a long-term deal with Metal Blade Records, which gave their new record wider distribution and, as a result, what? Music, of course. Metal Blade Records also had a deal with the German label SPV Records to distribute their artists across Europe, which ultimately brought Helstar’s music to our neck of the woods too. The other important thing that happened was that, with the move from Combat Records to Metal Blade Records, Helstar gained a sixth member who lifted their sound to an even higher level. That was the renowned American producer Bill Metoyer.
Helstar, who came out of the classic metal school, dug even deeper into their razor-sharp thrash/speed style. The album has songs closer to the roots of the first two records, like the classically driven Scorcher, whose lead melody in the chorus pulls toward the opening part of Evil Reign, while the verse riff hints at Helstar’s legacy carrying over into the later Destiny’s End. Picking across riffs and generally palm-muted riffing on the low strings got even more weight and freedom of expression, and the new Helstar came across even faster, even sharper and more cutting, shocking and devastating. Exactly what they wanted.
And earlier we mentioned the classical streak. If you listen to the epic-leaning Winds Of War, especially its middle (instrumental) section, led by an intense back-and-forth of guitar solos between Baragan and Corbin, it’s not hard to figure out that both Baragan and Rivera grew up and developed on the sounds of Iron Maiden. She’s A Woman, He’s A Man only confirms the hint. It’s a cover of the German rockers Scorpions. But cut strictly along the lines of Helstar-style artistic metal engraving. And who would have thought Helstar would ever flirt with the Scorpions legacy again. That happened 22 years later on the album “Glory Of Chaos”, but that’s another story. How do you make Scorpions metallically vampiric? Ask Helstar. The cover is a real little masterpiece that doesn’t spoil the album for a second, and anyone who happens not to know the Scorpions song could easily be fooled into thinking it’s an original by the band.
“A Distant Thunder” opens hellishly! For 1988 the production is outstanding. With a song that fans of the band today accept as a Helstar classic and a mandatory part of every live set the band plays, The King Is Dead drags the album into a relentless whirlpool. It’s embodied by an excellent balancing act of venomous shredding bite, a pinch of melody, a pinch of half-step bending and all-around relentless speed of bristling fury! That’s roughly how we’d characterize a Helstar mass. Don’t forget. We’re (only) in 1988. A time when metal was still thriving in every way. Everything coexists brilliantly, and the rhythm section communicates in a lively way, where not even the tiniest note of the intensely melodic, tearing-sounding bass guitar loses its meaning. The drive for modernization and for ever more destructiveness and shock value kept the door wide open for the double bass drum pedal, which at the time actually served to add dynamics to a song (today far too many bands, hunting for shock “extremes”, literally run a track over with monotonous double-kick pounding) and fully did its job. The riffing is vampiric, and that “wickedness” is built up by harmonies in thirds combined with the aforementioned “palm-muting” (Bitter End). The first half of the album is more sharply honed, while the instrumental The Whore Of Babylon marks the album’s transition into the second half, which is more classically conceived, with more epic elements and even more “proper” melodic solutions. But the songs of the first half are what cements the principle of Helstar’s style in this period. The King Is Dead, Tyrannicide, Abandon Ship, Scorcher are those moments that still ignite all thrash (!) metal fans today and that, with their boldness and inspiration, fired up many a younger-generation musician to deepen and develop the thrash metal tradition with their own contribution.
None of this would mean much without the exceptional vocalist James Rivera. His explosive, clean and authoritative singing, with outstanding finishing detonations no matter what register Rivera picks. It’s the special charm of Helstar’s music, and the “sinister” Rivera comes across on “A Distant Thunder” even more mature and with even smarter solutions in the verse melodies, which show off the power and charisma of his voice to the fullest. James Rivera kills especially with occasional outbursts of pure-blooded “Halford-esque” wails, adding even more fuel to the fire of the album’s dynamic mood swings.
On “A Distant Thunder” Helstar took their sound to a point of higher destructiveness, with even better use of the available sonic spectrum, while deepening and broadening their expressive range. The songs carry a clearly defined lead guitar riff, yet offer plenty of complexly structured passages that don’t fragment the album’s cohesion for a second. “A Distant Thunder” is the moment in the band’s evolution when Helstar, with their curiosity, stepped far beyond the threshold of adventurism. They stretched that adventurism a little further with “Nosferatu” (1989), but that’s a new story.
Lineup
James Rivera – vocals
Larry Barragan – guitar
Andre’ Corbin – guitar
Jerry Abarca – bass, keyboards
Frank Ferreira – drums
Production
Bill Metoyer
Tracklist
1. The King is Dead
2. Bitter End
3. Abandon Ship
4. Tyrannicide
5. Scorcher
6. Genius of Insanity
7. The Whore of Babylon
8. Winds of War
9. He’s a Woman, She’s a Man
