Starblind – Dying Son

One year removed from their debut record, Sweden’s Starblind has returned with another album of Iron Maiden-inspired tunes. “Dying Son” is a step even closer to mimicking the style of the metal giants as this album’s harmonies, melodies, and riffs sound even more authentic than the last record did. Once again, the primary differentiating factor is the band’s singer, who sounds nothing like Bruce Dickinson. His approach covers a similar range, but with more grit and less clarity. This is especially obvious when he unleashes wicked screams that push the limits of his voice. While nobody can top Bruce, having a distinctive singer definitely helps Starblind to be much more than a Maiden clone. Instead, they’re more like a band that follows Iron Maiden’s old formula to create great songs.

As you might imagine, this means that the album has a lot of galloping. “Sacrifice” for example, has the trademark mid-paced rhythmic thump that Steve Harris has made a career of writing. By contrast, “Lighthouse” is a song that is built around a faster galloping charge, not unlike songs such as “Run To The Hills” or “The Trooper”. Even the drumming reminds one of Nicko McBrain’s, with its triplet ride cymbal abuse. Taking the similarities to their limits, the most noticeable throwback to Iron Maiden is in “Blood Red Skies” where the many of the rhythms are reminiscent of “Where Eagles Dare”, particularly in the rhythm section underneath the first solo.

Not to be left out in all of this worship, Starblind’s guitarists do their best to channel the spirits of Adrian Smith and Dave Murray. While there are no excessive trills such as the ones the latter guitarist loves, the way that the harmonies and solos are constructed on this record shows that Starblind’s shredders have put in the time to study the composition styles of Smith and Murray (though one of the melodies in "The Man of the Crowd" is very reminiscent of a melody from Monument's "Carry On", a band that is quite heavy on Maiden worship themselves).

“Dying Son” is not an Iron Maiden record, but it much more genuine sounding than “The Book of Souls”. This album doesn’t waste time repeating choruses 1,000 times in each song, or having too many excessive quiet intros (though “Firestone” and “Sacrifice” show that these intros are not inescapable). While it is not as good as that record, it does sound much more like any of Maiden’s classics from the 1980s. If you crave more of that sound, Starblind’s “Dying Son” is an essential listen.

Be sure to check out and like Starblind on Facebook!

Highlights

"A Dying Son"

"Blood Red Skies"

"Sacrifice"

Final Rating

4.25/5 or 85%. 

Written by Scott

Starblind - Darkest Horrors

From the metal wonderland of Sweden comes a new traditional heavy metal band: Starblind. Their primary influence appears to be Iron Maiden, but the band does manage to have their own sound on “Darkest Horrors”, their debut album. Starblind features an incredible wailer on vocals, who really drives most of the record. There is a moment on “Crystal Tears” where he gets a bit out of control, but for the most part, he’s got a great command of his voice. You’ll see this throughout the album, as it’s a very hooky record, with a number of tracks that are likely to be stuck in your head when it’s over. Surprisingly, however, the hooks are just as prevalent in the guitars as they are in the vocals. For example, the opener, “Ascendancy”, kicks off with a wicked dual-lead guitar melody. Meanwhile, the chorus of the title track proves to integrate harmonies a bit more subtly, but to equal effect.

A couple of the other prime examples of the catchiness of the guitars comes from the Maiden worship. “I Stand Alone” goes full on “Fear of the Dark” with its main riff. While not completely identical, it has a very similar feel that will stick with you. Likewise, “The Reckoning” manages to capture the essence of “Still Life” (possibly the most underrated Maiden song) in the verse riff, before unleashing some harmonies that are reminiscent of "To Tame A Land". As you might imagine, harmonies are rampant on “Darkest Horrors”. This is great because the harmonies are killer, but also because it allows the bass to step forward. In general, the bass on this record is not buried at any point, but it does stand out when the guitars are soaring. 

In terms of pacing, most of the record is pretty similar. The band never gets too fast, but things are usually upbeat. The chorus of “Blood In The Night” shows some decent double bass work that amps up the energy, but not necessarily the speed of the album. When the band does slow down, such as on the first half of “Crystal Tears”, the result is brilliant.  The intro of this song just screams Maiden with the way the clean guitars are used (a similar thing occurs on “The Reckoning”). Relative to some of the other Maiden moments on this record, however, this part of the song never feels like it’s borrowing from any particular Iron Maiden track. Of course, a “Powerslave”-esque harmony does show up after the guitar solos, but again, it doesn’t feel like Starblind is being unoriginal. Rest assured, despite the number of times the legends of metal were mentioned in this review, Starblind is very much their own band. “Darkest Horrors” is very much a unique experience; it just happens to draw plenty of influence from the greatest metal band of all time.

Be sure to check out and like Starblind on Facebook!

Highlights

"Ascendancy"

"The Reckoning"

"I Stand Alone"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott