Singer JAMES RIVERA Says There Will Be A New HELSTAR Album

November 23, 2004

DISTANT THUNDER/HELSTAR frontman James Rivera recently spoke to Denmark's Antenna webzine about HELSTAR's recent European tour and his plans for the two groups. An excerpt from the interview follows:

Antenna: It hardly comes as any secret that the concept of DISTANT THUNDER is derived directly from the ashes of HELSTAR, and now we're talking about a combined tour of both bands?

James Rivera: "Yes, I couldn't make it more obvious. We actually started this tour as 'DISTANT THUNDER / HELSTAR', but in the end it was just called 'HELSTAR'. This booker from The Rock, Niels, was the only guy at all who was willing to book us as DISTANT THUNDER, the only one who knew who we were. Which was odd. And he was willing to call it 'DISTANT THUNDER', but when everyone changed it to 'HELSTAR', he changed it as well. We're doing some DISTANT THUNDER songs on this tour, and the reason that I chose to call us DISTANT THUNDER was merely to be careful about using the name HELSTAR, but now I know for a fact that it's safe. Even if we went on tour as DISTANT THUNDER, we would have done all the classics anyway. We're playing all the HELSTAR classics, and five new DISTANT THUNDER tracks.

Antenna: What will the future bring you?

James Rivera: "Here's what I think I'm going to do now. I'm going to do another DISTANT THUNDER record. And I'm going to do a HELSTAR record. Just like KING DIAMOND did it with MERCYFUL FATE. Instead of combining the two bands, or getting rid of one of them, I'm doing both. The new HELSTAR album will sound like 'Nosferatu', because my new guitarist writes material like that now. Very technical stuff. DISTANT THUNDER will be more straight-forward, melodic stuff, and HELSTAR will be technical as hell.

Antenna: In-between HELSTAR and DISTANT THUNDER, you've been playing temporarily with FLOTSAM AND JETSAM. Will you ever play with FLOTSAM AND JETSAM again?

James Rivera: "As a matter of fact I might tour with them again in March. I think Scandinavia is part of this tour. Eric A.K. [the lead vocalist] came back to the band and left again, so they're calling it 'the farewell tour', and they called me to get it done. People responded well to hearing me sing the songs. I almost consider it being part of a FLOTSAM AND JETSAM tribute band."

Read James Rivera's entire interview with Antenna at this location.

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