Helstar - Nosferatu (1989) Reviews
Call this album neoclassical or speed metal, but I wouldn't consider them accurate for Helstar's 4th release Nosferatu. Sure you can hear the shredding popularized by Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, Cacophony, etc., but that's not the main style. Here we have a strong progressive US power metal style that incorporates those technical scales into their own sound. The songs are well-structured with those aspects, thanks to the guitar duo of Larry Branagan and André Corbin. And it fits well for a then-unexpected theme, covering one of the most legendary figures in horror fiction...
OK, I am familiar with the whole "horror metal" concept, but mostly via modern metalcore bands like Ice Nine Kills and Motionless in White, and I remember Iced Earth and Evergrey each making a song based on that evil Transylvanian vampire. Helstar's Nosferatu displays the horror story concept early in classic metal's golden decade. While the atmosphere isn't as chilling or scary as you might expect it to be, the technicality is filled with terrifying majesty and helps the album succeed. Interestingly, the album title and cover art is based on Nosferatu, while the lyrics center around the original Dracula and samples from the 1979 Dracula film can be heard. The Dracula concept only covers the first half of the album. Still, this sinister bloodsucker created by Bram Stoker became part of Helstar's vision of darkness and riffing complexity!
Thundering in is the riff-wrath of the intro "Rhapsody in Black", already hinting at the promising greatness of the album. The bad-a** speedy power metal storm kicks off in "Baptized in Blood", straight from the verse riffing. You can already hear this Texan band's Priest/Maiden/Sabbath-infused response to Mozart and Beethoven. More of the direct yet dexterous verses come in "To Sleep, Per Chance to Scream", with wonderful vocal emotion by James Rivera. Killer choruses appear in "Harker's Tale (Mass of Death)", all while exemplifying the neoclassical technicality.
"Perseverance and Desperation" is a shred-tastic instrumental with lots of acoustic sections and melodic solos that make up the neoclassical side of the band's sound. See, that's the kind of the music I would've loved to bits in my teen years of listening to power/progressive metal. I suspect a lot of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani would enjoy the sh*t out of that piece. Lovely atmosphere too! "The Curse Has Passed Away" has more of those cool acoustics. "Benediction" starts the non-Dracula half of the album, standing out with more gang shouts used than any of the other tracks here. The hammering "Harsh Reality" lyrically feels out of place, singing about how f***ed up the world is, right after travelling the shadowy realm of Count Dracula. Still the song is quite good and killer.
The dominating "Swirling Madness" fits things better, and is one of the best songs here! "Von Am Lebem Desto Strum" is German for "From Alive to Current". The track itself is a bit of a clumsy acoustic/piano instrumental, but it's a nice setup for the finale... "Aieliaria and Everonn" is a good closing track, but the lyrics could've been better aligned.
All in all, Nosferatu is a pretty kick-A album in which the earlier classic sound of progressive US power metal is blended with horror imagery. They can go f***ing heavy while having some wild melodic scales. They can really head forward with their innovation, as they close their 80s era on a well-deserved note, though they would end up absent throughout the first half of the 90s. Anyway, the more melodic metalheads will bloodthirsty for this offering of horror and neoclassicism!
Favorites: "Baptized in Blood", "To Sleep, Per Chance to Scream", "Perseverance and Desperation", "Benediction", "Swirling Madness"
I think it’s fair to say that my experiences with Houston-based US power metal outfit Helstar’s 1980’s releases have been a bit of a mixed bag up until now. My initial impressions of them weren’t particularly positive after reviewing their 1984 debut album “Burning Star” for the Metal Academy podcast many years ago but I can certainly see a lot more potential in them after checking out 1988’s highly regarded “A Distant Thunder” third album last month which has left me wondering whether their supposedly classic 1989 fourth album “Nosferatu” might be the one to hit a home run for me. Let’s find out.
A level of stability can only a good thing for a band that’s building towards something significant & Helstar have certainly benefited from a bit of that with “Nosferatu” not only seeing them returning with the same lineup that was so successful for them on “A Distant Thunder” but also with the same producer in Metal Blade’s prolific house engineer Bill Metoyer. Bill had built up quite the resume by that point in his career with his long list of production achievements now including the likes of Trouble’s “Psalm 9” & “The Skull”, Flotsam & Jetsam’s “No Place For Disgrace” & Sacred Reich’s “Surf Nicaragua” among many others so he’d become a significant asset for label head Brian Slagel at the time. Bill’s done a splendid job at harnessing the nuances of Helstar’s sound here too with the band possessing a potent metallic edge but also the clarity to make out every bell & whistle they throw at the listener & there are more than a few of those.
To be more specific, Helstar had always pushed a slightly more complex sound than the majority of their competition but “Nosferatu” is not only the most aggressive release they’d released to the time but it’s also by far & away the most technical & progressive. In fact, it baffles me as to why this album isn’t tagged as progressive metal because it’s clearly ambitious enough for it. Its core sound is the very essence of what the US power metal movement was all about though in that it combines a high-tempo brand of power metal & thrash metal instrumentation with a soaring, operatic & theatrical vocal performance from front man James Rivera (Destiny’s End/Malice/Vicious Rumors/Seven Witches). There’s really very little traditional heavy metal on offer so our current tag is clearly inappropriate, as is the speed metal one because the faster material is better served by the power metal tag given the vocal style & over-the-top performances.
The album is chock-filled with technical flourishes that dazzle the listener as they’re executed with both energy & precision. They can sound a bit fiddly at times though & I definitely find myself more attracted to the thrashier & slightly more simple material. Perhaps that’s got a lot to do with my aversion to the European brand of power metal because “Nosferatu” has a fair bit of crossover in that department. In fact, Rivera’s vocal performance is definitely too theatrical for my taste & represents somewhat of an obstacle for me. It’s hard to be too critical though as the album is just so unapologetically metal & the contributions of the instrumentalists are outstanding with the dual guitar attack of Andre Corbin & Larry Barragan now possessing some mean chops that enable them to pull off some searing, face-melting solos.
Much like “A Distant Thunder”, I found myself enjoying the entire tracklisting here but can’t quite seem to convince myself to reach for my higher scores. This definitely comes down to taste as much as anything as there’s very little doubt that “Nosferatu” is a quality example of its type. Most fans seem to get hot & heated over the start of the record but I find that the tracklisting doesn’t really start to hum until a particularly solid run from tracks six to nine. I think that has something to do with the A side being more power metal-heavy while the proggier & thrashier material tends to come a little later on & is more in line with my taste profile.
I have to admit that I’ve remained fairly oblivious to the vampire themes that apparently pervade the first side of “Nosferatu” which won’t surprise most of our long-term members as I rarely care much for lyrical concepts. Despite that though, the musical themes that the album is pushing are pretty impressive & I’ve found them to give me a touch more enjoyment than I’ve received from either of the earlier Helstar albums I’ve investigated to date. However, I still can’t say that I’m convinced by this particular arm of the US power metal scene as it’s simply too theatrical & over-the-top for me to fully commit to. Give this record a snarlier thrash singer & I’d likely be all-in though. That said, Agent Steel, Liege Lord & Sanctuary fans will be absolutely all over this record, particularly if they also enjoy the more progressive end of the US power metal spectrum.
Considered by most to be their magnum opus, Nosferatu saw Helstar reach the peak of their songwriting skill before entering hiatus. With each prior album, they upted the ante in delivering technical, progressive, neoclassical thrashy Speed Metal. They even opted to make the first half of this album a concept story based on Dracula. Truly, they did pull all the stops for what was for a time their swansong album.
Helstar started out as a ridiculously generic Heavy Metal band with their debut album Burning Star, which makes the transition to this completely unique entity even more astounding. Even Today, Nosferatu holds its own as a monstrous testament to musical prowess and songwriting in Speed Metal. Interestingly, it walks a fine line between the heavy aggression of Tech Thrash and the hyper melodic sensibilities of Power and Neoclassical Metal. The vocalist adopts more of the later style, opting for dramatic flair and melody instead of aggression.
The album falls flat sometimes in delivering a whole lot of emotion, but they still do better than most neoclassical bands. The riffs are really sick too, not just pure wankery. Though there is a lot of that as well. Rhythm section is amazing.