Helstar

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Helstar is an American heavy metal band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1982 by guitarist Larry Barragan.[1] They were an influential force in the American power metal genre emerging in the mid-1980s.

History

Early days and Combat era (1982–1986)

Helstar began with a basic heavy metal style in 1983 with two demos, followed by their first studio album in 1984 titled Burning Star for Combat Records,[1] making them label mates with Megadeth and Exodus. Struggles within the band and management issues led to changes in the band's line-up.[1] After a year they released the Remnants of War album, also on Combat,[1] produced by Randy Burns. The band played their first arena show in December 1985 opening for Stryper at the Sam Houston Coliseum.

Metal Blade era (1987–1989)

In 1987, they briefly moved to Los Angeles with another line-up change, with guitarist Rob Trevino departing, and it is believed that the song "Abandon Ship", from the 1988 album A Distant Thunder, was dedicated to his departure. Along with guitarist André Corbin, Frank Ferreira was an addition to drums. They returned to Houston in 1988, signed with Metal Blade Records and recorded the A Distant Thunder album produced by Bill Metoyer.[1] The band subsequently toured as openers for acts such as Yngwie Malmsteen, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus, and Armored Saint.

In 1989, the band released Nosferatu, which many fans consider their greatest album. It was based on the early Dracula film and contained spoken sound bites from the 1979 adaptation.[1] Shortly after a tour of the album, the band recorded a four-song demo which did not gain interest from labels. André Corbin, Frank Ferreria, and Larry Barragan left the band in 1990 to pursue other interests, essentially ending the group for the time being.

Demos, Multiples of Black, and hiatuses (1990–2000)

Between 1990 and 1993, Helstar released a few demos that failed to receive great recognition. In 1995, Helstar released a new David Ellefson-produced studio album, entitled Multiples of Black, but did not achieve the quality from earlier albums, and fansScript error: No such module "Unsubst". consider it their worst release.

The members of Helstar, namely James Rivera, cooperated in other bands between 1993 and 2002: Seven Witches for a short time in 1993, Distant Thunder in 1995, Chaotic Order in 1997, and Destiny's End. The latter was a group put together by former members of New Eden and joined by Rivera that released two studio albums, Breathe Deep the Dark in 1998 and Transition in 2002.

Reunions (2001–present)

Helstar went through several reunions starting in 2001. These reunions were primarily organized by James Rivera and longtime bassist Jerry Abarca.

Several live albums came out of this period, but the band was unable to produce any new material. In 2006, for the first time in over 15 years, James Rivera and Larry Barragan reunited and Helstar were officially declared musically active again. Along with Abarca, Rivera and Barragan, also reunited with the Remnants of War album were guitarist Rob Trevino and Eternity Black drummer Russell De'leon. This lineup has since released Sins of the Past, "a greatest hits collection" of re-recorded songs. A new album was released with the Remnants of War line-up in 2008 titled The King of Hell.

In 2013, Helstar announced that bassist Jerry Abarca would take an extended break from the band due to a stomach related illness.[2] Mike Lepond and Garrick Smith took on live bass duties for upcoming shows. Helstar released their ninth studio album This Wicked Nest on April 25, 2014.[3] Andrew Atwood joined as second guitarist in 2016 and contributed to that year's album, Vampiro. The band's latest album, Clad In Black, was released in February 2021. Another album is in the works as of December 2023.[4]

Members

Template:Multiple image

Current members

  • James Rivera – vocals (1982–present)
  • Larry Barragan – guitars (1981–1995; 2006–present)
  • Michael Lewis – drums (2004–2006; 2010–present)
  • Garrick Smith – bass (2014–present)
  • Alan DeLeon Jr. – guitars (2024–present)

Former members

Guitars
  • John Diaz (1981–1982)
  • Tom Rogers (1983–1984)
  • Rob Trevino (1985–1987; 2006–2016)
  • André Corbin (1987–1990)
  • Aaron Garza (1990–1996)
  • love D. Michael Heald (1994–1996)
  • Eric Halpern (2004–2006)
  • Andrew Atwood (2016–2024)
Drums
  • Hector Pavon (1983–1984)
  • Rene Luna (1985–1987)
  • Frank Ferreira (1987–1990)
  • Russel DeLeon (1990–2004; 2006–2009)
Bass
  • Paul Medina (1983–1984)
  • Jerry Abarca (1985–2014)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1983 till:06/03/2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:4 start:1983 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1983

Colors = 

id:Vocals value:red    legend:Lead_Vocals
id:Guitar value:green  legend:Guitars
id:Bass   value:blue   legend:Bass
id:Drums  value:orange legend:Drums
id:Lines1 value:black  legend:Studio_Album

LineData= 

at:05/27/1984 color:black layer:back
at:08/28/1986 color:black layer:back
at:10/09/1988 color:black layer:back
at:11/19/1989 color:black layer:back
at:10/17/1995 color:black layer:back
at:03/04/2008 color:black layer:back
at:10/20/2010 color:black layer:back
at:04/25/2014 color:black layer:back
at:08/26/2016 color:black layer:back

BarData = 

bar:James  text:James Rivera
bar:Larry  text:Larry Barragan
bar:Tom    text:Tom Rogers
bar:Rob    text:Rob Trevino
bar:André  text:André Corbin
bar:Aaron  text:Aaron Garza
bar:Mike   text:Mike Heald
bar:Eric    text:Eric Halpern
bar:Andrew text:Andrew Atwood
bar:Alan   text:Alan DeLeon Jr.
bar:Paul   text:Paul Medina
bar:Jerry  text:Jerry Abarca
bar:Garrick  text:Garrick Smith
bar:Hector text:Hector Pavon
bar:Rene   text:Rene Luna
bar:Frank  text:Frank Ferreira
bar:Russel text:Russel DeLeon
bar:Mikey  text:Mikey Lewis

PlotData= 

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10.-4)
bar:James  from:start till:end        color:Vocals
bar:Larry  from:start till:02/01/1995 color:Guitar
bar:Tom    from:start till:10/01/1985 color:Guitar
bar:Rob    from:10/01/1985 till:06/01/1987 color:Guitar
bar:André  from:06/01/1987 till:10/01/1990 color:Guitar
bar:Aaron from:10/01/1990 till:08/01/2004 color:Guitar
bar:Mike   from:02/01/1995 till:02/01/2006 color:Guitar
bar:Eric    from:08/01/2004 till:02/01/2006 color:Guitar
bar:Rob    from:02/01/2006 till:02/01/2016       color:Guitar
bar:Larry  from:02/01/2006 till:end        color:Guitar
bar:Andrew from:02/01/2016 till:06/16/2024 color:Guitar
bar:Alan   from:06/16/2024 till:end color:Guitar 
bar:Paul   from:start till:02/01/1985 color:Bass
bar:Jerry  from:02/01/1985 till:08/01/2014 color:Bass
bar:Garrick from:08/01/2014 till:end       color:Bass
bar:Hector from:start till:02/01/1985 color:Drums
bar:Rene   from:02/01/1985 till:06/01/1987 color:Drums
bar:Frank  from:06/01/1987 till:10/01/1990 color:Drums
bar:Russel from:10/01/1990 till:08/01/2004 color:Drums
bar:Mikey  from:08/01/2004 till:02/01/2006 color:Drums
bar:Russel from:02/01/2006 till:06/01/2010 color:Drums
bar:Mikey  from:06/01/2010 till:end        color:Drums

</timeline>

Discography

References

Template:Reflist

External links

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  1. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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