Huntress - Starbound Beast
CD Info
2013
Napalm Records Austria
10 Tracks
English Lyrics
With the release of Starbound Beast about a year after releasing Spell Eater, Huntress remains on track with the ambition that Jill Janus, vocalist of Huntress, expressed in her recent interview with Sonic Cathedral. (Due to be posted)
Just like Spell Eater, this album is mostly inspired by Jill. The new album follows the line in the song "Dream and Death" from Spell Eater that refers to the inspiration that Jill gets from beyond Earth. You can find references to that idea in almost all the new songs, except one. Although the cover art might indicate this is a follow-up of their debut album, it’s definitely a Huntress sound but different. It’s not only because of the lyrics; the sound is now much more melodic; Jill’s voice has much more variances; and the arrangements are more balanced. Perhaps one of many reasons is that the production was by Zeus. Huntress was very happy with his commitment to the release. Another reason is that Huntress and maybe more specifically Jill is further on their "path" in the maturity process. Anyway, this second album is something to be proud of according to Jill. Many listeners (including some CD reviewers) also mention that the album is also more accessible. This was not planned; however it would be a nice add-on if this could attract more fans.
I would like to start with the mentioned exception, the third song on the album, released as a teaser. "I Want To Fuck You To Death" is to date the most discussed song from Starbound Beast. The song, co-written by the legendary Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, a close friend of Jill, is musically a combination of Motorhead heaviness and classic King Diamond melodies in a Huntress package. But the chorus is so catchy, it will get into your head and you’ll be singing it for days (just be careful who you’re standing next to if you sing it in public!). The tittle may be controversial; Jill’s vocals find the right balance in harmony with the guitars.
Starbound Beast opens with "Enter the Exosphere", a song that does what the title indicates, setting the atmosphere with an almost instrumental song with stellar guitars. This is directly followed by "Blood Sisters", an up-tempo heavy metal song of unity and of a blood bond. Jill is not known as a fully classically trained vocalist, but in this song Jill shows that she has much more capabilities then the well-known black metalish screams from Spell Eater.
The intro guitar melody of "Destroy Your Life" is a classic metal/rock style that quickly reveals the Huntress flavor in strong "galloping" rhythm, and when Jill joins in, the Huntress feel is complete. Her metal voice, with some hints of screams, fits well to the continuous presence of the guitars that have a leading role in this song.
The mid-tempo title track includes a mix melodies and guitar riffs. It is not entirely clear what the impact is from new guitarist Anthony Crocamo teaming up with Blake Meahl, but the combination leads to some interesting guitar licks, mixing doom metal with old school heavy metal and some progressive elements as well. Combined with supporting drum and bass and matching vocals, this song shows that the band is moving in a good direction.
In the up-tempo "Zenith" you will find again great guitar riffs, pounding drums from Carl Wierzbicky and Jill at her best. Maybe not as prominent, the rhythm section of bassist Ian Alden (switching from guitar to bass when Eric Harris left) supports the metal flow. After listening several times to the album, this song has become one of my favorites. This is followed by "Oracle", also an up-tempo song, where Jill goes into Greek mythology with her lyrics.
"Receiver" is a song with great riffs, pounding drums, soaring lead vocals and shredding tradeoff guitar leads from Ant and Meahl. There is also an intriguing line in the lyrics that triggered a question in my interview with Jill. That line also provides a background to the final song of the album "Alpha Tauri". This song has some interesting side steps, moving a little bit in the direction of progressive metal/rock.
The song not yet mentioned is "Spectra Spectral", before the final song. This has all the elements from the other songs but adds really nice harmony vocals from Jill to the already wide vocal spectrum she performs on this album.
With Starbound Beast, Huntress has delivered a great album with all strong songs. The more I listened, the more I liked the album. Although produced in a very short time, the quality did not suffer from that. Overall it is a mature quality album. The only downside I can think of is for people that would like to label this album, they will have challenge. The simple answer: it’s Huntress.
8.5 / 10
