Album review : STARCHASER – Into The Great Unknown

Frontiers [Release date 15.11.24]

Second album from Swedish Melodic Metal band, Starchaser.

The title track, ‘Into The Great Unknown’, a successful marriage of image and drama and music, gets us underway with a flourish.

(Actually the “image” comes from the spoken word prelude, ‘Stella Exodus”. We get the picture… an intrepid crew are escaping a war torn planet.)

It’s an outstanding track, bringing together all the band’s melodic metal strengths on a pulsing mix of the epic and the urgent. We’re off to a flier.

Starchaser was formed by Kenneth (Tad Morose) Jonsson, showing good judgement in his recruitment of expertise and experience: bassist Örjan Josefsson (Cibola Junction); drummer Johan Kulberg (Therion, Hammerfall); keyboardist Kay Backlund, ex Lions Share, and perhaps more especially, vocalist Ulrich Carlsson, ex Million.

Thanks to the Jonsson/Carlsson songwriting team, the album is well stocked with pulse quickening hooks, often outdoing some of today’s better Melodic Rock albums, and not something commonly encountered in Metal albums.

On ‘Who Am I’, Carlsson’s expressive vocals, a winning mix of clean and ragged edges, ensure that the music rises above the sterility that afflicts so many “post apocalypse/ escape to the stars” symphonic metal albums.

He leads ‘Battalion Of Heroes’ climactic chorus like a heavy metal hero himself.

Principal songwriter, Johnnson writes from the piano. Perhaps that’s why his music carries so much melody, and perhaps too why it avoids the bombast that afflicts so many bands in this and similar genres.

‘Shooting Star’ is one of the heaviest tracks on the album, but still Carlsson emerges triumphantly from the densely pack riffs and rhythms, wielding another heart thumping hook.

‘One By One’ follows suit. It’s also another song with intelligent lyrics. Something that can be admired even by those metal fans who have an aversion to concept albums.

Starchaser are one of the lesser known bands on the Frontiers roster. Only on their second album of course, and judging by this effort, they’ll soon be in the vanguard. ****1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)