HELSTAR — A Distant Thunder (review)

HELSTAR — A Distant Thunder album cover Album · 1988 · US Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
LightningRider
One of power metal's greatest accomplishments is the unique, diversified and purely epic "A Distant Thunder" by Helstar, which took all of the strengths of their first two albums and mixed them with the extensive progginess that was becoming more and more apparent in metal since the likes of Dream Theater showed up for the game. And in the end, we have an album that is much more creative than the average power metal album, and something that can stand with the giants of Germany.

The first three songs gradually get better, with "A Bitter End" being one of the band's best, never overdoing the incredible aggression and speed, and "Abandon Ship" is even better molding a sorcery of progression and atmosphere into the mix. The second half of the album is a fantastic half on its own, but it's a little more repetitive thanks to the good but somewhat pointless midtro "Whore of Babylon." The album ends with a progressive mix of ballad and speed called "Winds of War" and a speed metal cover of "He's a Woman, She's a Man" by Scorpions. The cover is about as good as the original.

I'd say this Helstar album is purely essential for anyone looking to explore metal in general. And as far as getting into Helstar, it's a fantastic entryway for exploring the band.
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