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Starchild: Battle Of Eternity

Melodic/Heavy/Power Metal

5.0/5.0

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Metalapolis Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 19.10.2022 | Released: 28.10.2022

Hailing from Germany's Lower Saxony region, Starchild was formed some eight years ago by vocalist and guitarist Sandro Giampietro. While Starchild has never crossed the Dangerdog Music Reviews desk, some metal fans might recognize Mr Giampietro. He was part of the one-off 2004 Mike Terrana project, Zillion. However, Giampeitro is perhaps most known for his association with Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske, his solo work, and his SupaRed project from the early 2000's. Starchild, then, is essentially, Giampeitro's own, self-directed, musical project.

Starchild

In 2004, Starchild dropped their self-titled debut album. Wherein they toured with Edguy and Unisonic (another Kiske project; seems to be a theme here), and appeared at the famous Wacken Open Air festival. Five years later, Starchild got around to adding a follow up long player, Killerrobots, which introduced another consistent band characteristic: changing personnel. Which brings us to Starchild's latest and third album, Battle Of Eternity, and a completely new band with Giampietro as the only constant.

Considering his musical past and associations, Giampietro's Starchild metal sound is self-evident. Battle Of Eternity is not free-form jazz fusion or American hip-hop. Nope. The band offers straight-up European melodic power metal, centering upon Giampietro's vocals, guitar work, and song writing which are significant. As most constant Dangerdog Review readers know, I put a premium on melodic vocals and classic guitar work, read: guitar solos. Giampietro excels at both (to the former, he sometimes he sounds like his friend Kiske). Add the other elements of gallop and groove from the rhythm section, fine keyboard atmosphere and orchestration, and basic song melody and vocal harmony, and Starchild gives you the perfect melodic power metal storm.

To which, Battle Of Eternity offers both consistency and variation. More speedy metal with groove comes with We've Been Through The Fire, Times May Change, and Battle Of Eternity (with a very strong bass line). Other tunes seem to temper or mix tempos, relying mostly on melody and groove, like Tame or The Land Of Ice And Snow. Alternatively, there's the shorter Error which turns more on melodic metal rock with strong vocal harmony, sturdy rock groove, and a catchy refrain. Roses is the anthemic ballad of the album. It's status secured by Giampietro's notable guitar line and emotional vocal performance.

All things considered, Starchild's Battle Of Eternity is a fine and entertaining album of well crafted and executed melodic heavy power metal driven, among many things, strong vocals, fine guitar work, and solid song writing. Easily recommended.

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Starchild's Battle Of Eternity is a fine and entertaining album of well crafted and executed melodic heavy power metal driven, among many things, strong vocals, fine guitar work, and solid song writing. Easily recommended.

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Three years have passed since Sweden's Cruzh dropped their second long-player, Tropical Thunder, also introducing their new singer, Alex Waghorn. Now the band returns with The Jungle Revolution ... [ Read More ]

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