James Rivera (born April 15, 1960) is an American singer, best known as the frontman for the heavy metal band

Helstar 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. History Early days and Combat-era (1982–1986) H ...

. He was also the singer for

Seven Witches Seven Witches is an American heavy metal band from New Jersey, founded in 1998 by Jack Frost and Bobby Lucas. History Seven Witches released a demo-CD in 1998, which resulted in them signing a record deal with Massacre Records. The first two ...

between 2002 and 2005.

Biography

Rivera got his start singing with

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...

act

, 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. In addition to Helstar, Rivera has sung with several other metal bands (most notably Destiny's End and Vicious Rumors) 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 Shadowkeep are an English heavy metal band formed in Guildford in 1999 by guitarists Chris Allen (ex-Intense and Sire) and Nikki Robson (also formerly of Sire). History Early recordings In October 1999, Shadowkeep recorded their debut ...

and would record vocals for their fourth album."James Rivera to be part of SK new album" – Announcement on

official Facebook page, January 25, 2017

References

External links

Helstar website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, James 1960 births Living people American heavy metal singers Seven Witches members People from Houston