Night Electric Night - Deathstars

Deathstars are a Swedish five-piece metal band. Apparently they are of the "industrial metal" sub-genre, but I would definitely say that they are up the "pop" end of industrial music. That's how I feel about their albums so far, anyway-- I only got this new one yesterday and this is is my first formal listen-through. So I may be surprised. But up to this point, I'd be tempted to call their music something like "glam-pop-industrial".
...- vocals
Cat Casino - guitar
Nightmare Industries - guitars and keyboards
Skinny Disco - bass and backing vocals
Bone W. Machine - drums

This is the band's third album, following on from _Synthetic Generation_ (2003) and _Termination Bliss_ (2006). Both of which were excellent.

Deathstars have a distinctive and consistent style and sound. They create strong songs which manage to be both tuneful and ... more

Deathstars are a Swedish five-piece metal band. Apparently they are of the "industrial metal" sub-genre, but I would definitely say that they are up the "pop" end of industrial music. That's how I feel about their albums so far, anyway-- I only got this new one yesterday and this is is my first formal listen-through. So I may be surprised. But up to this point, I'd be tempted to call their music something like "glam-pop-industrial".

The band's members are:
Whiplasher Bernadotte - vocals
Cat Casino - guitar
Nightmare Industries - guitars and keyboards
Skinny Disco - bass and backing vocals
Bone W. Machine - drums

This is the band's third album, following on from Synthetic Generation (2003) and Termination Bliss (2006). Both of which were excellent.

Deathstars have a distinctive and consistent style and sound. They create strong songs which manage to be both tuneful and quite aggressive. The vocals are strong and although Whiplasher is no Morten Harket (who is?) I love what he does with his voice-- booming strongly over the instrumentals or tripping through them as required. I'm not very technically minded but even I can hear that Deathstars have excellent production values; their music is crisp and well-balanced and gives their songs an "epic pop" feel that I adore, and makes it very accessible probably even to people who would shudder at the thought of "industrial metal". It's clear that all the members are very good at what they do. I observed once in an a-ha review that a-ha is what you would get if you asked three gifted musicians to make pop music; I suspect Deathstars is what you would get if you added two more artists and demanded they make you industrial metal.

Maybe it's their being Scandinavian, and the epic traditions (and tradition of epics) of Viking culture... but when I listen to Deathstars I do feel like it is perfectly logical and consistent for me to be a fan of both them and a-ha, despite the seemingly very different genres. I'm finding too easy and natural to use a-ha as the comparison in this review. So I'll try and stop that now.

If you buy the Gold edition of the album, you also get bonus tracks and a bonus DVD with single videos and "Making ofs..".

Tracks

Listening through the album now...

1. "Chertograd"

Ten thousand needles of light

Keyboards open the album, and then the guitar kicks in, and I immediately know this is a Deathstars album. It's reassuring. I like to know where I am with a band from the start. This isn't one to fill a dancefloor with, as it's quite slow in tempo, but it's certainly got me trying to move in time as I listen. It glides along to a faster finish. A most satisfying start to the album. 7/10

2. "Night Electric Night"

The second song is faster in tempo, although does alternate between faster and slower sections building up to a fast finish, which is something I demand and appreciate from the Deathstars. I love the finish of this. It also satisfies and makes me chair-dance. 7/10

3. "Death Dies Hard"

I will deny you
This world belongs to me

This is apparently the first single from the album. It seems a pretty solid choice. To me, it feels like a James Bond theme, and the title certainly sounds Bond-ish. I like it. The keyboards remind me of a-ha, too. But it's still all very reassuringly Deathstars-ish. 8/10

4. "The Mark of the Gun"

But will you ever taste that
The certain wet taste of fright

I realise this album is going to be difficult to do a track-by-track review of as I listen to this. Again, this song is reassuringly Deathstars-ish. And therein lies the problem. I like it. But I suspect it's going to be very hard to write something new and exciting about each track. But I can't complain really, as I like the Deathstars sound, and this is a fine example of it. 7/10

5. "Via the End"

I understand now ? The toll of the bell

The keyboards here remind me of "Blitzkrieg" from Termination Bliss, their second album. It's another fine song. But I'm finding it hard to concentrate as I'm wondering what exactly I want in a new album from a band. Do I want something new and different? Or do I want something that sounds like their previous work, which I love? I suppose what I like is a bit of both; so far this album is definitely the latter. It's good, but there's no surprises so far, and this particular song starts to drag a bit towards the end. 6/10

6. "Blood Stains Blondes"

I never could
Tell the truth when there are still some lies

I'm now starting to think this is getting a bit silly. It's all brilliant but I still feel like I could be listening to any Deathstars album. Don't get me wrong, I love everything I've heard so far, but at the same time, I've heard it all before. But then at the same time I feel unfair complaining that a band are consistently good and recognisable... but I do start to worry that they are crossing the line from consistent to samey. 7/10

7. "Babylon"

I want you to see
The thousand ways
That lead to terror

Yes, yes it's all very good but still there's nothing really new. My mind is wandering. 7/10

8. "The Fuel Ignites"

More fine Deathstars. Ho-hum. 7/10

9. "Arclight"

This song shares a title with a VNV Nation track. Maybe I could review that instead. No? Oh well. It's also a very nice Deathstars track. But I'm starting to get bored. 6/10

10. "Venus in Arms"

Your lips are like morphine

Yeah I'm definitely bored now. 6/10

11. "Opium"

Can you feel them closing in
The sky has exploded

The closing track of the album. I'm almost relieved. 7/10

Conclusion

This is a perfectly fine album. "Death Dies Hard" is my favourite track due to its Bond-ish feel. But I do feel that there should have been a bit more experimentation. The album will fit nicely into my eternal playlist, and I do like all the songs; but listening to the album in one sitting just reiterates that there's nothing truly new or exciting on this album. Sometimes the lyrics are a bit, well, dubious; they just don't make any sense and I'm not quite sure what it's all about.

Deathstars are a talented band and what they do is very good. I'm sure it's always difficult for a band to decide what to do next. And when a formula works, why mess with it? But at the same time, it's as if a-ha made songs that all sounded like "Take On Me" or "The Sun Always Shines on TV". This may work for a while, but if Deathstars want to have longevity as a band they will need to expand their repertoire a bit. Don't get me wrong, I love this album and it's going straight onto my walkman, the songs are already growing on me and I feel bad for being bored because I know as individual songs they are all great.

Deathstars are a great all-round band. They look and sound brilliant, and their consistency mean there's not a bad song on this album. But still, apart from "Death Dies Hard", which I shall have as an ear-worm all day, nothing stands out as truly brilliant, either. It's epic-by-numbers. Not necessarily bad; but not pant-wettingly exciting either. But I like it, and would happily recommend it.

See the video for "Death Dies Hard" here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWUmw2ITaFA 

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