HELSTAR — A Distant Thunder (review)

HELSTAR — A Distant Thunder album cover Album · 1988 · US Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Unitron
Helstar-A Distant Thunder

When the album begins, you're already shot right into powerful pounding and rolling drums with the opening song 'The King is Dead'. During the chorus, Rivera's lower vocals flow perfectly with the shredding guitar. Rivera's vocals are very well performed on this song, with his higher-pitched vocals being spread out to the beginning, middle, and end. 'Tyrannicide' is another strong track. The shredding guitar at both the beginning and the rest of the song is just amazing. 'Scorcher' is another favorite, with a beautiful acoustic intro. Rivera's vocals really shine here, with his soft vocals flowing perfectly with the acoustics. His scream signals the fast guitar and drums to come in. The bridge is another favorite part of the song, with some Medieval sounding acoustic guitar.

'Abandon Ship' is a big stand-out track, with it being the longest song on the album. All the instruments compliment each other perfectly, the drums rolling, the shredding guitar, and the bass all blend well together. The bridge is my favorite part of the song, before the guitar solo comes in, Larry Barragan's guitar really shines. Then beautiful acoustic guitar comes in while the electric guitar is still droning in the background, which is something I love to hear. Rivera's vocals and lyrics are very strong, his vocals complimenting the acoustics perfectly. It's definitely the masterpiece of the album.

The lyrics are much stronger on this album, with more inspirational lyrics. The song 'Bitter End' is about freedom. The lyrics for 'Abandon Ship' remind me of an Iron Maiden song, with the lyrics speaking about dreams and exploration.

Overall, this album is certainly essential to any metal collection. Helstar was at their peak, none of the songs are weak on this album. Helstar blends speed, power, thrash, into a perfect blend. Their inclusion of Medieval influences is very unique as well, with it fitting pretty well with Helstar's sound. Highly recommended to any metal collection.

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