It was April of 1986 when I first got my taste of seeing Helstar live and in the flesh along with metal greats Anthrax and Watchtower, it was a year that changed much of the metal scene in Texas and all the great shows came through that year. There are too many to list I can tell you that. 20 years have passed and it seems like nothing has changed for the band Helstar who have recently reunited to put on a show that is not only a reunion for the band but also for its fans. As I waited anxiously all week for the show Saturday and cranked every Helstar album in sight I thought back to how incredible the local scene was here and how amazing the talent was. As Saturday finally rolled around, I was almost like a child at x-mas morning opening his presents. It had been a long while since I had last been to The White Rabbit and soon found that the overall venue had been changed to accommodate for more people with the addition of an outside patio which with the Texas heat wasn’t much help as the club itself has no AC either. My brother and I arrived early enough to score a free commemorative t-shirt with the bands listed on the back and “Robbs Metal works” on the front. I ran into Robb soon after and we spoke for a bit about the show and the fans that had arrived from as far away as Houston to California and how distance could not be a factor. After all it was to see HELSTAR ! It was only 6 pm and the show would not start till 7:50 with the first band being a young trio local act named “NO BALLADS”. A Modern Thrash outfit with an impressive amount of energy and attitude the band is just beginning to take off. The band was fresh and young with a sound similar to early Slayer and Violence. I caught only half of their set before heading back to the patio to chat with some local bands. It was amazing to see a lot of the same people here for this show that I had seen almost 20 yrs ago. METAL lives forever in our blood it seems. The band did a short set and next up was Symphonic Black Metal band –Vesparian Sorrow . I will admit that I have never been a huge fan of Black metal but these guys really sounded good. Recently coming off a tour in Europe the bands, sound is heavy and dark with excellent shredding leads from James and William. The bands vocalist Donn Donni has a massive stage presence and his vocals are deep and gritty when he goes low and maintains a good tone even when he sings in his mid. I’ve made it a point to listen to this band more later. As for the symphonic tag on the bands genre listing, I only heard a few snippets near the end of their set. Not sure if that was the PA or sound guys deal but I can say for the most part that it was Pre recorded from what I did hear and it just did not stand out as well. By this time in the night more familiar faces showed up and people and friends that I had not seen in years were all flooding in catching up on old times and new. In a sense, what turned out to be a reunion for the band Helstar may very well have been a bigger reunion for their fans. I was lucky enough to meet up with some fellow Myspace users and even luckier to see friends I had not seen in years! Thrash Veterans Rotting Corpse took the stage soon after and played a great set offering new and old tunes from their career. Bassist Steve Murphy and guitarist Luke Murphy were at their best and played a great set. Vocalist Walter Trachsler was really into the show and even smashed his guitar at the sets end with one lucky fan taking it home. I was really looking forward to Phantom X by this time and I was not disappointed as Kevin Goocher (ex Omen Frontman) belted out the opening lines of “Pain Machine” I was floored at the bands tight sound and especially Eric Knudsons shredding guitar playing. I would see this band again without hesitation. If you have yet to get their debut CD “Rise of the phantom” I highly recommend it. The set from Phantom X was killer and many friends who had not heard of the band were all very impressed and blown away. By this time the crowd was piling into the Rabbit and was getting hyped and Robb’s metal works was filming and doing interviews outside in the patio area. Robb also had a giveaway scheduled for this time and 4 lucky people (not me) won some great prizes. - Helstar 3-cd pak: 'Nosferatru', 'Twas The Night Of A Hellish X-Mas' & 'Distant Thunder
- Helstar 3-cd pak & Metalblade t-shirt
- Helstar 3-cd pak, Metalblade t-shirt & Metalblade hoodie
- a 24x36 vinyl Showcase poster autographed by ALL the bands; there will only be 2 of these in existence!!
The Helstar reunion shirts were 20 bucks each and I picked up 3 of them. With the Helstar logo on front and the bands recent picture on the back the shirts are red and black. I loaded up on another beer, made my way up front near the stage as Robb introduced Helstar and the opening notes of “Unidos por tristeza” came on, and the band took the stage blasting into “Remnants of War”. Larry armed with his black skulls “Robin” guitar and Rob with his “Carvin” guitar (which I must say is a SWEET ass guitar). Jerry came out thumping away on his black bass and wearing an old Helstar shirt. As the first line of vocals came out James was yet to take the stage. Turns out he was fiddling with the wireless mike which kept going out thru the first 2 songs. James commented on how you cannot rely much on wireless mikes and he pretty much stuck to the back up mike, which he used throughout the show. The band played flawlessly thru the first 4 songs as if they had written them yesterday. I swear James had a smile a mile long just being up there and doing his thing all the while staring over at Larry and Robb and letting it all sink in that HELSTAR was back and kicking ass and taking names! The fifth song of the night was “Destroyer” and as James put it, was a bitch of a song to do live, but as Larry and Rob broke into the dual lead intro of the song it was evident that they could have done this in their sleep. The band played each song off the album with a passion that made even the Remastered CD sound pale in comparison. As “Angel of death “ ended the guys played the classic “Burning star” which got the crowd pumped up. Fists pumped the air and heads banged all around as even I myself had my horns up and had a chance to get a handshake from James. Nearing the end of the set James also announced that it was Jerry’s B-day also which was all the more reason for it to be extra special for the band. “The King is Dead “ soon followed and again the crowd was riled up as throughout the whole song they sang along. I could tell this made James all the happier as he held the mike out to the crowd as they shouted the chorus. The band then took a minute to thank the fans and were filing up front and making their exits but with the crowds chants soon came back out for one last song. Larry flowed thru the intro for “Baptized in Blood” (which sounded absolutely amazing) and James came out sounding superb as the band played this tune with complete energy and power. I have to say it was my favorite song of the night. And as soon as it had started it was over as the band said their final farewells and waved goodbye. Russel came out from behind his set and threw some sticks out, I waved my fist up and he threw one out at me that I was lucky enough to catch. The band then came out and met with the fans and signed every and anything they could. It was amazing to see so many people bringing their vinyl albums to be autographed by Helstar. I had a chance to get my shirt signed and got a great pic of me and James showing off the shirt with the “Living 4 metal” note that he wrote on the top of it. I also let him know that they would have to come back in 3 years to do the “Nosferatu” album. I will do anything in my power to see that happen here in SA as well it would make for a great 7th annual Robb’s Metal works showcase ! I personally want to Thank Robb for bringing us a great show and to all the fellow friends and fans that showed up to make it a great time. I had a blast being around all my old friends. Until the next Helstar show –KEEP IT METAL !!!!!! Here are some band links for all the bands on the bill: NO BALLADS - http://www.myspace.com/noballads VESPARIAN SORROW - http://www.myspace.com/vesperian ROTTING CORPSE - http://www.myspace.com/rottingcorpsethrash PHANTOM X - http://www.phantom-x.net/page/page/2229453.htm Pics from the show!!!!! http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dz2573/my_photos DZ.
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