Helker

Helker, the Buenos Aires outfit, ranked among Argentina’s foremost metal acts in the early 2000s thanks to a potent fusion of melodic hard rock and muscular NWOBHM-style power metal. Guitarist Mariano Ríos and bassist Christian Abarca formed the group in 1998; since then the band has shared bills with Primal Fear, Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Gamma Ray, and Masterplan while issuing a series of acclaimed albums, some in Spanish and others in English, all built on enormous riffs, engaging melodies, and fist-pumping choruses. Their Spanish-language debut, Legado Secreto, arrived in 2001 and quickly established them on the South American circuit. Resistir followed in 2008 and A.D.N. in 2010, both likewise recorded in the band’s native tongue. A 2013 contract with AFM Records yielded Somewhere in the Circle, the first English-language release, produced by Primal Fear’s Mat Sinner and instrumental in widening their international audience. Sinner returned to helm the fifth studio album, Firesoul, issued in both English and Spanish editions by the lineup of Ríos, Abarca, guitarist Leo Aristu, drummer Hernán Coronel, and powerhouse vocalist Diego Valdez.