StarGazer - Psychic Secretions

9/10

StarGazer’s music is an experience which requires multiple immersions and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for good old school progressive death/black metal.

It’s been a while since I heard any new StarGazer and chancing upon ‘Psychic Secretions’ got me excited. The band has been around for twenty five years but it was their magnum opus ‘Scream that tore the sky’, released in 2005, that got the underground buzzing with their esoteric brand of blackened death metal. Since then, these Aussies have churned out three full-lengths and a host of singles and demos. ‘Psychic Secretions’ is their most recent effort and it further stamps the band’s authority in the annals of Australian underground metal.

If you’re unfamiliar with StarGazer, then expect progressive death metal played through a black metal filter, all while having very jazzy basslines. Whether you call it avantgarde or progressive extreme metal, it’s up to you. Any comparisons to past or present bands would be a disservice to the band. The band’s sound stands on its own. On listening to ‘Psychic Screams’, one instantly recognizes that this is something that would come from the band’s stable. The incredible range of switching from technical guitar wizardry to blast-beats to melancholic slow tempo passages to ritualistic ambient moments, all make StarGazer very unique.

No two tracks are similar and the band experiments with different structures almost as if they intend to take the listener on different journeys. I’d like to describe the songs that were my highlights. ‘Lash of the Tytans’ starts off with a melodic doom-y intro but soon rips into a verse laden with blast-beats before slowing down to a more double-bassy melodic chorus. ‘Hooves’ features warm drone-y riffs which will send you into a trance only to be woken up by the double-bass as the song gathers momentum. The ‘All Knowing Cold’ plays around with plenty of ideas. It’s a beautiful mess with eccentric guitar melodies, bass passages and ends with a chant, probably to conjure something ghastly. I love it and it’s my favorite track on the album.

The musicianship is masterful. If you’ve been a fan of the band (I wear my StarGazer metal pin proudly on my jacket), masterful musicianship is something you naturally expect. In that sense, ‘Psychic Secretions’ doesn’t disappoint. If you’re looking for “weird” riffs, StarGazer’s got your back. Denny Blake, aka the Serpent Inquisitor, crafts out unworldly riffs while also ensuring they fit the song structures. Alan Cadman, aka Khronomancer, is the new drummer in the band and he does not allow a single dull moment to slip through. I have to commend the bass work though. It’s gorgeous and it sounds effortless as it sits on top of the mix on each track. To be honest, without the sweeping basslines and the over the top flurry of bass notes, this album wouldn’t be the same. Damon Good, aka the Great Righteous Destroyer, does a great job here.

I can’t think of any flaws in this album. Perhaps for new listeners, it can come off as a bit dense. The songs, while unique in their own regard, have a lot going for them individually. Heck, there’s more in one StarGazer track than in entire albums put out by bands these days. This could be a hindrance to the casual listener though. It took at least a couple of listens for me to unpack everything in ‘Psychic Secretions’ and begin to appreciate it. It's worth the wait. StarGazer was never meant to sound accessible and I trust it has been the band’s vision to craft the weirdest sounds. StarGazer’s music is an experience which requires multiple immersions and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for good old school progressive death/black metal.

Originally posted on Tempelores.com

Hittman – Destroy All Humans

9/10

The album is a grower and I can say it’s at par with the legendary releases by the Rÿches, the Fates Warnings and others of their ilk

Hittman popped up on my radar last year at the Up The Hammers festival in Athens, Greece. I witnessed the band’s return after a twenty-five year hiatus. Unbeknownst to me at that time, Hittman are a legendary band of the late 80s, which had so much promise after their debut self-titled album. They can be described as a heavy/hard rock band with a strong leaning towards power and progressive musical elements. Back in the day, there were obvious comparisons with Fates Warning and Queensrÿche. I wouldn’t categorize them as a USPM band but I’d imagine a typical USPM fan would lap up Hittman without batting an eyelid. Unfortunately like most good things that we as a human race don’t deserve, Hittman hung up their boots by 1994, having released two full-lengths and a few demos and singles. But Hittman are now back and if their 2019 live performance I witnessed was anything to go by, they’re a rekindled band with so much vigour, enthusiasm and power.

While I spin Destroy All Humans, I can hear a certain familiarity with the songs played live almost a year and half ago at the aforementioned heavy metal festival. They did preview some of the new songs back then. Before writing this review, I also listened to their debut album, in order to bring out any comparisons with their latest output. If you haven’t been piqued by the earlier genre phrases I threw at you, let me reiterate the band’s style. Hittman does a great job at mixing European power metal melodies with the punchiness of American proggy heavy/hard rock. While the European counterparts try to make everything sound epic, Hittman have these moments of epicness in their choruses and whammy-bar driven guitar leads. But at the same time, the verses and riffs are hard-hitting. The glue that sticks everything together is Dirk Kennedy’s vocals. It’s probably one of the best vocal performances I’ve heard in the recent past. His range from brooding and emotive to powerful air-raid siren like screams is quite simply put – extraordinary.

With regards to the instrumentation, the mixing and production, I think Destroy All Humans is very well recorded and all the instruments are tightly played and mixed. I can hear the rhythm section clear as day even when the guitar solos or the vocals are center-stage. I did have a bone to pick with the production being so clear, compared to the 80s debut’s grainy nostalgic production. But hey, I’m over it and it does grow on you. The instrumentation neither seems overdone nor overcompensating anything lacking in another department. I’d attribute this to the song-writing and arrangements. It’s quite straightforward. Once you have the formula and template down, I suppose it’s easier to piece together all parts and play them to perfection. The twin guitars, the bass and the drums do their part of making this record feel like one cohesive masterpiece.

Probably the only blemish on this perfect record is that I was able to predict what the band was going to do next in a particular song. I’d attribute it to the simple/straight-forward song structures that I mentioned earlier. They do call them “formulas” after all. Is it a drawback? Definitely not. Does it take away anything from the album? Definitely not. This is just a heads up for you so that you know what you’re getting yourself into.

It’s not hard to grasp the lyrical influence from the album title – Destroy All Humans. They deal with injustice, hardships and basically humans being responsible for everything terrible on the planet. I think. The songs that stand out for me musically also have memorable choruses. The track Breathe’s very singable “Just remember to breathe” or Code of Honor’s commanding “Guilty! You’ve been served…Guitly! Of no crime” are total bangers which will get you singing along in no time. Total Amnesia is another hard-hitting track where I’d imagine an entire audience would be joining in on the chorus. Alas, if only live gigs would return once this blasted pandemic ceases.

That said, Hittman’s return album is thoroughly enjoyable, with each track offering something for the listener. I’d even argue that it’s an easy top ten album of the year pick in my books. Although it appeals more to the metalhead who appreciates 80s heavy metal or hard rock, I would encourage others to listen to it as well. In terms of dying subgenres, Destroy All Humans is an important record of our times especially since there aren’t too many bands playing this style with the underground cred as Hittman. The album is a grower and I can say it’s at par with the legendary releases by the Rÿches, the Fates Warnings and others of their ilk. Go ahead and give it a spin!

Originally posted on Tempelores.com