James Rivera
James Rivera (born April 15, 1960) is a heavy metal vocalist, most known as the front-man for the heavy metal band Helstar; he was also the singer for Seven Witches between 2002 and 2005. As of January 2016, he has been a metal frontman for thirty-four years and has recorded fourteen albums. Rivera got his start singing with aforementioned Power/Speed 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.
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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, United States |
| Genres | Heavy metal, power metal, speed metal, thrash metal |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1982 – present |
| Labels | Combat Records, Metal Blade |
| Associated acts | Helstar, Vicious Rumors, Distant Thunder, Sabbath Judas Sabbath, Dawnrider (Ger), Chaotic Order, Flotsam And Jetsam, Killing Machine, Malakis Reign, Vigilante (US), Thrasher (US), Daggers Edge, Denim And Leather, New Eden, Bad Heaven, Children Of The Grave (Black Sabbath Cover Band), Metal Gods (Judas Priest Cover Band), Shadowkeep |
James 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]
References
- Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Biography: Helstar". Allmusic. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
- Dillon, Charlotte. "Biography: Destiny's End". Allmusic. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
- "James Rivera to be part of SK new album" - Announcement on Shadowkeep official Facebook page, January 25, 2017
MALICE's current lineup includes three original members (Mick Zane on guitar, Jay Reynolds on guitar and Mark Behn on bass) alongside Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE, MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP) on drums and James Rivera on vocals.
