Helstar
Nosferatu (1989)
Helstar continued the legacy provided by bands like Voivod and Watchtower by writing technically advanced and highly intricate Thrash Metal music. The band honed their craft on their first three albums and despite showing some of the most advanced technical riffing prowess to that point in the 1980s these albums suffered slightly from a lack of dynamic shifts causing the songs themselves to often become indistinct.
Learning from these shortcomings the band had a strong conceptual focus on Nosferatu and left us with one of the best albums not only in this sub-genre, but in all of Metal. The first six songs of the album are based around the famous vampire myth of the Carpathian Mountains region, in particular the version from Bram Stoker's Dracula, in all its fearful and horrible splendour. The songs (especially the first six) contain strong motifs and structurally these are built around each other in sweeping movements that shift between blindingly fast 'neo-classical' riffing, traditional aggressive palm-muted Thrash riffing (like something out of say Metallica) and more refined mid-paced sections (and at times clean sections for dramatic impact).
The key here is that Helstar have managed to find a certain balance in their arsenal and deviate from the relentless Thrash Metal tempos when it fits the theme (see most of The Curse Has Passed Away, which is noticeably US Power/Heavy Metal based rather than Thrash at times). Compared to their previous albums the band, whilst still including a lot of gallop style riffs, also show considerably more variation in their strumming patterns and also experiment a little with different time-signatures. They use often simpler riffs which allows them to ramp up the aggression in their music and express things like fear and violence. The band in using more restraint are able to use these kinds of riffs to build suspense. The ideas are also left to run their course longer than previously. Of course there are still the more advanced / technical riffs or melodic lead sections that Helstar had mastered on previous albums. These are often used to express concepts more to do with the alluring darkness of the vampire or more complex take on any range of deep and darker emotions. In some of the more melodic sections there are hints of darker Gothic style melody befitting the vampire theme.
In other words Helstar have found more gears to go to and are now albe to skilfully write songs that build into grand crescendos and/or release tension dramatically. Supporting this are the falsetto vocals, which are also greatly improved, with a sharper, nastier edge, floating and hovering over the music, often accompanied by a layered second voice or gang vocals. Cold, distant, and ominous. They match the urgency of the music in the more aggressive sections (ie. where the focus is on the vampire) and communicate the fear and desperation of Harker’s attempts to break the curse (see especially Harker's Tale and The Curse Has Passed Away).
The progression of first six songs in particular feels exactly like the well known concept narrative that it is based on - the faster aggressive opener sets the scene and outlines the utter violence of Nosferatu, whilst steadily progressing onto the nightmarish nature of said vampire and the curse of its victims (To Sleep, Perchance to Scream). Harker's Tale through to The Curse Has Passed Away including the brilliant instrumental (Perseverance and Desperation) become more circumspect and start to focus more on the human aspects of the drama (ie. the mood becomes more mournful, often full of desperation) and also the ominous presence and the imminent but often unseen danger of the vampire. The rest of the album is more a collection of songs, but befitting the qualify of the previous songs do have similar enough themes, especially on a psychological level (for instance Swirling Madness and Benediction), that they still work quite well.
The key here is that Helstar have managed to find a certain balance in their arsenal and deviate from the relentless Thrash Metal tempos when it fits the theme (see most of The Curse Has Passed Away, which is noticeably US Power/Heavy Metal based rather than Thrash at times). Compared to their previous albums the band, whilst still including a lot of gallop style riffs, also show considerably more variation in their strumming patterns and also experiment a little with different time-signatures. They use often simpler riffs which allows them to ramp up the aggression in their music and express things like fear and violence. The band in using more restraint are able to use these kinds of riffs to build suspense. The ideas are also left to run their course longer than previously. Of course there are still the more advanced / technical riffs or melodic lead sections that Helstar had mastered on previous albums. These are often used to express concepts more to do with the alluring darkness of the vampire or more complex take on any range of deep and darker emotions. In some of the more melodic sections there are hints of darker Gothic style melody befitting the vampire theme.
In other words Helstar have found more gears to go to and are now albe to skilfully write songs that build into grand crescendos and/or release tension dramatically. Supporting this are the falsetto vocals, which are also greatly improved, with a sharper, nastier edge, floating and hovering over the music, often accompanied by a layered second voice or gang vocals. Cold, distant, and ominous. They match the urgency of the music in the more aggressive sections (ie. where the focus is on the vampire) and communicate the fear and desperation of Harker’s attempts to break the curse (see especially Harker's Tale and The Curse Has Passed Away).
The progression of first six songs in particular feels exactly like the well known concept narrative that it is based on - the faster aggressive opener sets the scene and outlines the utter violence of Nosferatu, whilst steadily progressing onto the nightmarish nature of said vampire and the curse of its victims (To Sleep, Perchance to Scream). Harker's Tale through to The Curse Has Passed Away including the brilliant instrumental (Perseverance and Desperation) become more circumspect and start to focus more on the human aspects of the drama (ie. the mood becomes more mournful, often full of desperation) and also the ominous presence and the imminent but often unseen danger of the vampire. The rest of the album is more a collection of songs, but befitting the qualify of the previous songs do have similar enough themes, especially on a psychological level (for instance Swirling Madness and Benediction), that they still work quite well.
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