StarGazer - A Great Work of Ages

Release Date: September 7, 2010
Label: Profound Lore Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Red Antlered Radiant
2.  Passing Stone - into the
     Greater Sun
3.  Pypes of Psychosomatis
4.  Refractive Convex Continuum
5.  Chase for the Serpentsong
6.  The Morbid Slither,
      the Sinner Slough
7.  Hue-Man-King
8.  Formless Face of the
     Timeless Faceless

Total playing time:  45:10

November 18, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

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*Comments:

When I heard the term “avant-garde black/death metal” I was immediately rolling my eyes at yet another seemingly fan-invented term for some black metal band that is cultivated to Pink Floyd. However, in my many years of metal experience I’ve learned not to judge anything before initial consumption, so I went into StarGazer’s “A Great Work of Ages” may well be just that, if not more?

What I liked right off was the somewhat fuzzy sound, definitely a 70’s feel with some real black sounding metal backing it. Every instrument is discernable and enjoyable, and I especially like the bass sound in “Pypes of Psychosomatis,” which moves along like a Black Sabbath-meets-Celtic Frost-meets-Opeth trip into some psychotic tunnel of sounds. What makes StarGazer so damn interesting is the absolute disregard for convention in the music, yet total attention paid to detail and design so as not to sound like a musical puzzle unable or unwilling to be solved. The utter enchantment of these songs, each one of them, is something special to be taken in with an open mind free of worry or stress. What can usually come across as momentary respite in some albums is not the case here; the music is all-consuming and just plain beautiful while retaining some semblance of controlled volatility.

As I mentioned the bass work here is impeccable in both performance and presentation, reminding me of Martin Mendez in diligence. Once “Chase for the Serpentsong” kicks in at full velocity you’re immediately transfixed and blown out of your seat. This has to be one of the best metal songs I’ve heard in a while with its homogeneous brilliance. This chaotic track is so perfectly styled that I’m amazed at how jumbled it sounds within such systematic structure. At just over nine minutes the song never gets boring and never fails to enlighten you. In fact, I was actually upset it ended when it did!

The production values on this album should be mandatory for any band these days, regardless of personal budget; this is exactly what underground metal should retain when representing the scene. If more bands paid attention to what is sacred about our scene’s sound then maybe we wouldn’t have such a plethora of garbage polluting the grounds, because believe me there’s far too many crap bands wasting time and space as opposed to the few brilliant ones like StarGazer that deserve all the accolades and attention afforded them.

I think Opeth may have found a worthy successor to its once epic musical stature that is now a more commercially-acceptable sound since signing to Roadrunner. This is a band that certainly needs to be heard and ingested at any given rung on the ever-growing metal ladder.