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James Rivera | |
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 Rivera in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Bill Lionel |
| Born | April 15, 1960 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | Heavy metal, power metal, speed metal, thrash metal |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1982–present |
James Rivera (born April 15, 1960) is an American singer, best known as the frontman for the heavy metal band Helstar. He was also the singer for Seven Witches between 2002 and 2005.
Rivera got his start singing with power metal act Helstar, a band established in the early 1980s in Houston, Texas. Rivera and guitarist Larry Barragan are the only remaining original members of the band after numerous lineup changes. [1] In addition to Helstar, Rivera has sung with several other metal bands (most notably Destiny's End and Vicious Rumors) [2] during his music career and belonged to several tribute bands.
Rivera, along with Helstar's other founding member Larry Barragan, rebuilt the original band with guitar player Rob Trevino, bass player Jerry Abarca and drummer Russ De Leon (now substituted by Michael Lewis). In 2007 the band released Sins Of The Past, a re-recorded best-of including the most famous Helstar songs. In 2008, came a new brand full-length studio album called King Of Hell. They've released a number of albums since then, most recently in 2016 with Vampiro.
Over the years Rivera and Helstar have been active with their live shows across the United States as well as touring in Europe. Helstar hits great stages like the ones of the Keep It True Festival and Headbangers Open Air, both in Germany, and finally the cult Heavy Metal festival in Italy called Play It Loud.
In January 2017, it was announced that Rivera was to join UK-based power metal band Shadowkeep and would record vocals for their fourth album. [3]
Ross Friedman, also known as Ross the Boss, is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of both the punk band the Dictators and the heavy metal band Manowar.
Saxon are an English heavy metal band formed in Barnsley in 1975. As leaders of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), they had eight UK Top 40 albums during the 1980s including four UK Top 10 albums and two Top 5 albums. They had numerous hit singles on the UK Singles Chart and experienced success all over Europe and Japan, as well as in the United States.
James are an English rock band from Manchester, who were formed in 1982. They had popularity throughout the 1990s, with four top 10s on the UK Singles Chart and nine top 10s on the UK Albums Chart. The band's best-known singles include "Come Home", "Sit Down", "She's a Star" and "Laid", which also became a hit on American college radio.
Sad Wings of Destiny is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 26 March 1976 by Gull Records. It is considered the album on which Judas Priest consolidated their sound and image, and songs from it such as "Victim of Changes" and "The Ripper" have since become live standards. It was the band's only album to feature drummer Alan Moore.
Helstar is an American heavy metal band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1982 by guitarist Larry Barragan. They were an influential force in the American power metal genre emerging in the mid-1980s.
Tygers of Pan Tang are an English heavy metal band who are part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. They formed in 1978 in Whitley Bay, England, and were active until 1987. The band reformed in 1999 and continue to record and perform. The name is derived from Pan Tang, a fictional archipelago in Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné fantasy series whose wizards keep tigers as pets.
Vicious Rumors are an American power metal band, originally formed in 1979 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was conceived by founder and guitarist/vocalist Geoff Thorpe, and has been actively recording and touring worldwide since their full-length recording debut in 1985. The band is signed to the Germany-based label SPV/Steamhammer.
Agent Steel is an American speed metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1984 by vocalist John Cyriis with drummer Chuck Profus. The band released two full-length albums and one EP before disbanding in 1988. They were most notable for Cyriis' high-pitched vocals, catchy songs, melodic riffs, and fast tempos mixed in with interest in UFOs. Agent Steel reformed in 1998 and released three more full-length albums before going on hiatus in 2011. The band reformed again in 2018, this time with Cyriis returning as the vocalist and without any previous members ; under this new lineup, Agent Steel released their first studio album in 14 years, No Other Godz Before Me, in 2021.
Nosferatu is the fourth album by American heavy metal band Helstar, released by Metal Blade Records in November 1989. The first half of the album follows a storyline based on the Bram Stoker novel Dracula and includes audio samples of Frank Langella's performance in John Badham's film adaptation of Dracula. It was the last album recorded by the band before going on hiatus, until reforming in 1995.
Domine is an Italian power metal band formed in 1983. The group from Florence, who began releasing demo tapes in 1986, got some attention with their first album, Champion Eternal, released in 1997. Domine went on to release four more albums, touring Europe and playing at many festivals. They have been linked to heroic fantasy and sword and sorcery writers like Michael Moorcock and Robert E. Howard for their lyrics related to the Elric of Melniboné and Conan the Barbarian novels.
Seven Witches is an American heavy metal band from New Jersey, founded in 1998 by Jack Frost and Bobby Lucas.
Mike DiMeo is an American hard rock/heavy metal vocalist, best known for his work in the band Riot, which he left in late 2006. He recorded six studio albums and one live album with the group before departing to join Masterplan for the recording of MK II in 2006.
Burning Star is the debut album by American heavy metal band Helstar, released by Combat Records in March 1984. Recorded at Sunrise Studios in the band's hometown of Houston, the original cover features a grim reaper-type of figure in a red robe holding a fireball and scythe. European and subsequent re-releases of the album feature a different cover with a spacecraft exploding.
A Distant Thunder is the third album by American heavy metal band Helstar, released by Metal Blade Records in September 1988, their first album on the label and found the band perfecting their signature mix of power metal and thrash metal. It includes a cover of Scorpions' "He's a Woman, She's a Man", appearing on their 1977 album Taken by Force.
Remnants of War is the second album by American heavy metal band Helstar, released by Combat Records and Noise Records in August 1986, and the final by the former. It was recorded following a lineup change and a change of studio to Mad Dog Studios in California. The sound of the album was a gradual progression from the traditional heavy metal style of the band's debut album, Burning Star towards the power-thrash sound that the band forged throughout the 1980s.
Peragaswatte Chandana Chitral Somapala, aka Chity Somapala, is a Sri Lankan hard rock and heavy metal vocalist and a music director. He is known for his work with European power metal bands Firewind, Power Quest, Avalon, Faro, Red Circuit, and Civilization One. Somapala gained popularity in his home country due to his Sinhala track "Nadee Ganga" which was released in 1998.
Shadowkeep are an English heavy metal band formed in Guildford in 1999 by guitarists Chris Allen and Nikki Robson.
Balance of Power are a British heavy metal band formed in 1995.
Juan Garcia , also known as Juan of the Dead, is a Cuban-American guitarist. He is perhaps best known as the guitarist for the thrash metal bands Agent Steel and Evildead and the power metal/speed metal band Abattoir. Garcia is also the rhythm guitarist of Body Count.
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