Into The Great Unknown is the sophomore release of the Swedish melodic metal band Starchaser. Prime mover behind the band is guitarist Kenneth Jonsson, probably best known for his long stint in another Swedish metal outfit, Tad Morose. Their self-titled debut album, released in 2022, was originally meant to be a solo album, but the chemistry with the support artists was such that the project was upgraded to a fully-fledged band. Not surprisingly, Jonsson is the main songwriter, even if singer Ulrich Carlsson writes the lyrics and vocal melodies and contributes to the arrangements.
One of Jonsson’s aims was apparently to combine his classical musical influences – such as composers Phillip Glass and Max Richter – into the hard rock/metal genre. To be honest, Glass and Richter are hard to discern in Starchaser’s music, although in respect to Tad Morose’s power metal, Starchaser slow the pace down a bit and make widespread use of keyboards (thanks to the excellent keyboardist Kay Backlund), giving it a symphonic metal edge at times.
‘This is the captain of Spacecraft Starchaser asking for permission to depart’ crackles a voice through the comms system in the brief prelude, Stella Exodus, and Starchaser certainly depart with a bang with the raucous title track. It’s a fast-paced rocker and one is struck immediately by the big fat sound produced by the band. Jonsson is very active, adding licks here and there, while Backlund piles on layers of synths including the clever three-note hook line that precedes each line of the chorus. It’s quite breath-taking stuff. The more measured pace of Battalion Of Heroes is equally impressive. It’s more of a straightforward guitar-based metal track with an energetic chunky riff and strong vocals from Carlsson.
Despite some strong numbers, the remaining eight songs can’t quite live up to the level set by the title track and Battalion Of Heroes. Who Am I initially promises to maintain the quality with a powerful symphonic metal opening, but then there is the jarring effect of the juxtaposition of that storming start with a chorus that might fit nicely into an ‘80s-style AOR tune, but not here. Sadly, that chorus sucks the energy out of the song faster than the air from a popped balloon. One By One does better with a strong soaring chorus and an excellent solo from Johnsson, while Shooting Star has an interesting synth-driven riff, and Under The Same Sky brings back the epic tones of the title track, albeit at a slower pace.
These days it seems to be standard that there’s one slow song on a metal album, but Starchaser buck the trend by opting to omit a slow number. One side effect of that is that as the album progresses, a certain sameness creeps into the music. A decent ballad might have reduced that risk. What we do get by way of contrast is the curious The Nightmare King, which opens with the sound of a musical box, a young girl’s sharply spoken words ‘you have to wake up now’, and then a slightly hysterical sounding guitar riff that drives the main song along. Normal metal service resumes with the neatly titled War Is A Bad Place For A Good Man (that opens a little like Deep Purple’s Love Child) and the closing hard-rocker In A Time Of Steel.
The space-faring theme of the band is also reflected in the superb cover art which shows an astronaut emerging from a crashed spaceship and walking towards a very imposing structure seemingly built on layers of skulls. It’s a pity that the album is available only on CD since a vinyl edition would be worth owning just for that artwork.
Johnsson is quoted as saying ‘For this new record, we’ve delivered fiercer melodies and a more thunderous sound’. I think that statement is true – the album is a step up from the debut and ‘thunderous sound’ is an accurate description of the energetic wall of sound the band favours. The melodies might be fiercer but perhaps don’t stick in the mind in the way that certain songs of better-known Swedish peers Eclipse and H.E.A.T do, for example. Nevertheless, Into The Great Unknown is a fine set of songs that is likely to deservedly bring Starchaser to a wider audience.
No comments! Be the first commenter?