Back from Hell - Helstar's Heavy New Legacy

Originally written for Soundshock.com

Texan classic thrash metallers Helstar disbanded in the mid-nineties like countless other thrash acts but, like a phoenix, rose again in 2007. The following year, the band released their recorded comeback ‘King of Hell’, a surprisingly vicious update on the classic Helstar sound. Two years later, the quintet struck back with ‘Glory of Chaos’. Larry Barragan discusses the reactions Helstar have secured and what their future plans are at their first UK show.

‘Glory of Chaos’ is a behemoth of a record, with Halford-esque shrieks, thick modern metal riffage, and bloodthirsty drumming, quite a far cry from Helstar’s classic ‘Remnants of War’ or ‘Nosferatu’ releases. Did this polarise the fanbase? “The first reaction was like ‘Wow what the hell is that?’” Larry recalls animatedly. “And now everybody just…they love it. They’re like “That’s the heaviest album you guys have made.” It’s been pretty good. I haven’t had any real negative reactions from the fans. We used a lot of James’ [Rivera, vocalist] voice on this one. A lot of people didn’t realise he could do a lot of that stuff.”

The ultra-heavy sound the band has adopted works and is a feature signature to metal that Helstar were known for before their reunion. “I always wanted to make ‘Glory of Chaos’ since…forever. I’ve always wanted to be heavy. Different members of the band pull us in all different directions. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. We’ve never had that album where you listen to it and you felt like you’ve been punched in the face and that’s what I wanted for this album.” Plenty of reactivated classic acts stick to what they mastered and became best at, perhaps slightly modernising their sound but certainly not directly drawing influences from newer bands. Larry takes pride in stating that Helstar are the opposite. “We’re all metal heads and we’ve never stopped listening to metal. There’s all these influences from newer bands like Lamb of God and Sacrifice. What we wrote, that’s the way it came out. If you go back and listen to all the albums, we’ve never done part two of anything. It’s hard to do. It’s hard to not repeat yourself.”

The new sound is also a fantastic way to introduce the new generation of metal fans to Helstar, with a fresh sound as opposed to an outdated, nostalgic one. “The fanbase has actually grown since we’ve reunited. Last night, we played old songs and everyone was absolutely cool with it and then we played ‘Alma Negra’ and the place went nuts. Every time we played one of the new songs, I could tell there was different energy all of a sudden.” In a world where bands are struggling to remain relevant or stand out in some manner, Helstar have accomplished what they need to do with new music.

With the surge in popularity with retro thrash and heavy metal bands emulating a sound that was commonplace in the eighties, it seems like Helstar are taking the intrepid route by introducing new sounds, rather than capitalising on their classic metal status and potentially catapulting themselves into the same sphere of attention as these newer acts. Larry believes there is a strong difference between retro acts and those who were actually there at the time. “I think they have the knowledge of it, I don’t know if they have the feel that these bands like Helstar and some of the other bands that have been around. Those guys – when they write an album, it has a certain vibe and feel and you can tell these guys are gonna be around for a while. When you listen to those [retro metal bands], it sounds polished and everything but maybe they don’t quite get it. You gotta have your own identity. That’s just my biased opinion I guess.”

One of the prominent attributes as to why Helstar’s new found heaviness is around can be attributed to new drummer Mikey Lewis. “On ‘Glory of Chaos’, we’ve got Mikey in the band as our drummer and he understood us more from a drum perspective than any one. I think the album sounds as heavy as it does because of him. He made a huge change in us. It’s subtle, I don’t think people realise when they listen to it – the drums are fucking heavy – they just think ‘Wow, it sounds so heavy, it’s so fast.’ Actually he plays guitar too. He wasn’t in the writing process but for the next one, for sure. He’s already said ‘I’ve got some parts. Let’s get together.’ Yeah, anything to make my job easier.”

After this tour, Helstar plan on heading home to work on a new release. “I’ve got parts here and there that I have on my laptop already but not anything concrete. I’m sure Rob has a bunch of parts as well. Like I said, Mikey has some guitar parts too so we’ll get together and start piecing everything together.” As ‘Glory of Chaos’ was composed through emails and recorded without the band rehearsing together, it could be that the follow up album will be more thought out with more intricacies as Larry believes it could be beneficial to write the album together. “I think everybody wants to get together a little bit more and take some more time over the stuff. I like the solos but I think if I had a little more time, I could have made the solos more elaborate. But overall, I’m happy.”

A Succinct Commentary on Sabaton's Studio Albums

The world must prepare for Sabaton's nuclear attack on mundane power metal!

Sweden's Sabaton were conceived in 1999 and in a brief space of time, they have ascended to the upper echelons of modern power metal. This is punctuated adequately by their recent signing to Nuclear Blast Records a few weeks ago. To this day, they have four full-length efforts and one tentatively due next year.

Primo Victoria [2005]

Sabaton's official debut album Primo Victoria, released on Black Lodge, redefined the benchmark for modern power metal bands. The archetypal high pitched falsetto vocals are substituted for a macho low-pitched voice, almost tip-toeing into growling territory. Guitars produce electrifying, razor sharp riffs in a power metal fashion, more like Children of Bodom than Gamma Ray but still nothing like the Finnish quintet. The drums sound bombastic, truly in-your-face and refusing to stick to the monotonous double-bass drumming most power metal acts feel comfortable with. The keyboards are fiery and intense, literally making the music sweat. All of these attributes connect together seamlessly to underscore Sabaton's central theme: war, a theme not frequently discussed within a power metal context. All of the lyrics are related to war and vocalist Joakim Broden is so passionate in his approach that the topics become infectious and the listener wants to know what exactly he speaks about. The only song excluded from the war talk is closing number 'Metal Machine' which a light-hearted heavy metal track formulated with the song titles of well-known metal bands.

Attero Dominatus [2006]

It would be futile to argue that Sabaton's second album is wildy discernable from their debut (the closing track, entitled 'Metal Crue' is another jokey metal song with lyrics created by the names of popular metal bands) but Attero Dominatus does provide evidence of Sabaton's evolution over the last year. Songs are more streamlined and sound more like anthems, with offerings like the title track, 'Nuclear Attack', 'Back in Control' and 'In the Name of God' packing a hefty punch to the listener. These songs are Sabaton at their sharpest and most dynamic, comfortable in what they do with formidable execution. Sabaton's lengthiest song to date is on this album, the melancholy 'Rise of Evil', describing with accuracy the rise of the Third Reich. This is arguably the best song Sabaton have committed to tape for its abundant maturity, foreboding riffs and envious intensity. Although an improvement on Primo Victoria, a third album like this would do Sabaton no more favours; they have exhausted this style.

Metalizer [2007]

Sabaton's third album in three years, Metalizer is not strictly speaking exclusively new Sabaton material. Before the days of their debut album, the Swedes recorded two demos [1], conjoined in a best-of release entitled Fist for Fight in 2000. It was released on an obscure Italian record label, Underground Symphony. However, it is the second disc on Metalizer. The first disc is ostensibly re-recorded versions of songs from Fist for Fight in addition to a couple extra songs. This sounds more like traditional heavy/power metal with no amazing flair and few similarities to their first two albums. The guitars are not as poised as on the other work Sabaton have recorded but do retain some formidable riffs, and the vocals sound rawer and deeper than ever. Lyrical themes pay homage to fantasy, Tolkien and other power metal clichés. Many of these songs can be considered filler tracks. It would appear Sabaton released Metalizer so fans could have the opportunity to obtain Sabaton's true origins, which is an honest move. They no longer play any of these songs in their live set [2].

The Art of War [2008]

Sabaton retain their consistency in releasing albums each year and The Art of War, their latest album to date, hits shelves in 2009. The band have been enriched over the years and showcase it in the near-fifty minutes of this album. The acquisition of a proper keyboard player [3] means the keyboard takes a more interactive stance on the album, sounds very prevalent and plays different roles on different songs. Only 'Unbreakable' and 'Talvisota' demonstrate obvious trademarks from the Primo/Attero days. The music sounds even more intense and the guitar riffs are more substantial and experimental. Although the lyrical themes are still war-driven (this time there is no party metal track), 'Cliffs of Gallipoli' has an almost joyous mood while 'The Price of a Mile' sounds cinematically upsetting. 'Union (Slopes of St. Benedict)' is a superlatively creative songs that even utilises elements of folk metal in an innovative fashion. 'Firestorm' is frenetic, certain to increase heart rates with a genuine sense of urgency. The album is divided by brief samples of a woman reading selections from Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' book that are supposed to correspond to the following song. Fortunately, unlike so many death metal bands, the sample use is not abused so the album does not become hideously fragmented. Musical explosions occur everywhere on this release with ground-pounders like 'Ghost Division' and '4o:1', marking this a relentless album for power metal and Sabaton's most articulated release yet.

Teamed with performances at Graspop, Wacken and other major metal festivals, Sabaton reached large audiences and with a captivating, energetic live show stuffed with tracks that invite the metal congregations to sing along. It is unsurprising that Sabaton have been signed to one of metal's biggest record labels, Nuclear Blast. They can only get even more popular now and are definitely ear-marked as being the next big thing in power metal. What can be anticipated from their forthcoming release is unknown, save the return of war lyrical themes; the band invited their fans to e-mail ideas of wars they would like to see covered in the next album and received over 10,000 replies. Until next year...

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[1] These were originally recorded approximately 1999/2000.

[2] They certainly played a few in 2007 on the tour for the album though.

[3] Frontman Joakim Broden used to handle keyboard duties and the band would hire a player on tour.

Adagio in Black - Why and How Adagio Changed

Originally written for: www.Soundshock.net

A country not recurrently associated with progressive metal, France is home to symphonic proggers Adagio. After forming in 2000, the band spawned their individual brand of melodic metal, tastefully influenced by Symphony X with strong neo-classical flourishes. In 2006, they released their third album 'Dominate' which showcased a signifiantly heavier sound for the band and the incorporation of growls. Although this stirred the original Adagio fanbase, the band felt in no way discouraged to continue honing their abilities with their heavier direction as they released their latest full-length 'Archangels in Black' earlier this year on Listenable Records. Before playing their first ever show in the UK, Soundshock sit down with main composer and guitarist Stéphan Forté and pick his brains on the new vocalist and sound of Adagio.

After Forté gets comfortable in the well-lit balcony of the Purple Turtle with odd members and roadies sound-checking on the stage below, he describes the primary alterations between Adagio's original sound and the one they have since adopted. "The first albums were way more progressive and neo-classical, then we decided to go straight because it's more enjoyable on stage; we have more fun playing darker stuff. All the progressive elements are still present but less complex, with lots of orchestra arrangements but with dark chord progressions." The implimentation of a heavier sound suggests that Forté is suddenly listening to more extreme metal bands, which seems like an interesting contradiction given that Adagio really only meddle with power, symphonic, neo-classical, progressive and the occasional gothic metal moment - typically melodic genres, far removed from the likes of atonal thrash or death metal. "I used to listen to a lot of death metal when I was younger then I went to progressive but now I'm coming back to what I like - the more aggressive stuff. Nowadays I really like Meshuggah, Dimmu Borgir, Job for a Cowboy and also Machine Head but we're still keeping the melodic side of the vocals but with some aggressive vocals in the background. The aggressive metal is more present now."

Indeed the vocals still remain predominantly melodic. Christian Palin from Finland joined Adagio last year and is the group's third vocalist. While his voice is certainly tailored for melodic metal, he succeeds his predecessors by offering the option of a well-defined, heavier vocal stance where necessary, like the difference between Russell Allen's voice from 'The Divine Wings of Tragedy' and the later 'Paradise Lost'. Forté is initially reluctant to explain why Palin is Adagio's best choice as the frontman himself sits in the room's corner, but reassures Forté that he can say what he wishes and to pretend that he is not in the room. "I like his personality. I think he's a great guy. The human approach is very important. Also, he's got great vocal abilities and a great range that really fits Adagio's vibe and Adagio's music." Palin's voice suits the band seamlessly because the band had half of the music written before he joined their ranks, meaning they knew exactly what they were looking for in a vocalist when they held their auditions, and the other half was conceived when they knew who their vocalist was.

'Archangels in Black' does feature growled vocals, as does the album preceeding it, 'Dominate'. However, 'Dominate' does not utilise black metal riffs or blastbeats. These techniques are rare in melodic metal as a whole so why does Forté believe they would improve his music? "The thing I like is that it gives a special mix. It comes naturally. I only heard when I composed the album "I want to do something heavier, really heavier." That was the main thing but all the music came naturally." Why was he so keen to release a substantially heavier album? He simply answers with a grin on his face "Because I like it! The vocals, the bass, the drums...You like heavy metal, you like heavy stuff. I don't know why. It's quite difficult to describe. I like the massiveness, the big war machine crushing everything. For the moment, still melody keeps the music because melody to me is relaly important so I don't want to move into anything like grindcore or stuff like this because it's not the same. I think the more we go, the heavier we'll be."

With the advancement of an aggressive and more sinister atmosphere and a vocalist willing to toss some brutal growls into the mix, additionally Adagio have visually had an overhaul. Album art, promo photos and their new video 'Fear Circus' feature stereotypical gothic and dark imagery. "I have always been into really dark kind of things. We're into dark arts and stuff like this. Gothic - I'm not sure because it represents so many things, just like when you say 'metal' it represents a lot. Even though we're not gothic metal, I'm into it but not all of us [are]."

As with anything, particuarly a genre like metal when cynics appear to lurk behind every musical corner, there are those who strongly dislike Adagio's extreme metal-influenced sound. When 'Archangels in Black' was originally released, numerous isolated Adagio fans sprinted to the Internet to vent their frustrated opinions. While some have warmed to the album after repeated listens, others have resolutely refused to allow the release to grow on them. What does Forté have to say about these doubters? He just shrugs. "We know that some people will be disappointed but we know that some people will like it so we decide to do what we feel because if we think about what these people will think, we're not doing anything honest and I really wanted to do this. You can't please everybody."