Helstar
A Distant Thunder

THE REVIEW

Aaahhh...as Rivera sings...

Paraphrasing a saying by Maurizio Mosca (football enthusiasts know what I’m referring to), I’d like to shed a bit of light on the third effort of the never-too-remembered Helstar, namely ''A Distant Thunder'': an excellent synthesis of anger and technique accompanied by a taste for superior caliber melody. The previous ''Renmants Of War'' had already demonstrated the potential that the Texan combo would refine later on, although it remained, unfortunately, almost completely unnoticed. Therefore, moving to California to reach a more significant audience, the band had the bright idea of welcoming two new members who would greatly contribute to shaping the sound of this platter and the subsequent, incredible, ''Nosferatu''. I'm talking about Frank Ferreira on drums, a true technique monster, captivating in both intricate and heavier passages, and André Corbin on the second axe, a perfect alter-ego to Bannagan if not even superior stylistically. As announced, however, James Rivera is the star: his operatic voice and his unparalleled and distinctive timbre (an ideal middle ground between a less sly Geoff Tate and a sweeter Rob Halford) adapt uniformly to the band's proposal, whether it involves unleashing smoking metal and intensity or exploring epic and sober shores.

In ''A Distant Thunder'' the delicacies seem endless; there isn’t a composition that sinks in the euphoric storm that is created. Helstar strike hard but do so imparting lessons with their own weapons: technique at the service of ferocity, melody intertwining with ultra-metal sequences while ethereal acoustic parts aim straight at the heart, allowing us a moment to breathe. Choosing one song over another becomes pure child's play; I would only like to highlight what is, for me, still today, the most representative song of the album and the career of the Americans, the mythical semi-ballad ''Winds Of War'' where starting from a faint piano backdrop (played by bassist Jerry Abarca) a devastating sound wall is constructed, developing miraculously in the manner of the most inspired Fates Warning, only to give way again to the dreamy keyboards and dissolve into nothingness. The ecstatic sublimation of musical art.

Is there more to add? Perhaps that the production is compact but sterile and does not reach the stratospheric level of the pieces? Or that the artwork might make one think it contains an old work of Ornella Vanoni for what it represents? Or further, that Helstar are still active and in the decade just concluded they have confirmed their class with two high-ranking, much-appreciated albums? 

Attitude and elegance. You don’t hear them like that anymore...