WILDESTARR
“BEYOND THE RAIN”
Album Review By Iron Mathew

9/10

WildeStarr are a female fronted heavy metal band from the USA formed in 2003 by husband and wife duo Dave Starr (guitars and bass) and London Wilde (vocals), with the current line-up completed by Josh Foster (drums). The bands debut album ‘Arrival’ was released in 2010 and followed up in 2012 with ‘A Tell Tale Heart’. 2017 saw the release of the bands third album ‘Beyond The Rain’.

Hard hitting, punchy and melodic is the signature sound of WildeStarr, and in the shape of their mighty new album, this sound resonates all the way through it. ‘Metamorphose’ is a one minute atmospheric intro leading into the thunderous title song ‘Beyond The Rain’. Very heavy guitars swagger on, pulsating with enough force to knock over small buildings. A top notch and very powerful vocal performance perfectly accompanies the heavy nature of ‘Beyond The Rain’. WildeStarr are back and hitting very hard indeed. Changing gear and charging along at speed, ‘Pressing The Wires’ is a head bangers dream. Full of blistering pace and galloping rhythms, ‘Pressing The Wires’ is a fusion of traditional heavy metal and melodic heavy rock. The breathless pace of ‘Pressing The Wires’ is swiftly replaced with the heavy rocking ‘Double Red’ marching on at a mid tempo pace. Retaining the heavy sound that is a trademark of WildeStarr, ‘Double Red’ is a majestic foot stomp. The vocal range of singer London Wilde is immense and easily adapts to whichever genre of music the band descends into…

…with the opening three songs swaggering their way through about six different genres. ‘Down Cold’ introduces a much more melodic hard rock feel than anything heard so far, with the vocals soaring high. The heaviness remains though, as ‘Down Cold’ pulverises the airways and savagely stomps hard as it rolls on by. Trying to compare the bands sound to any other band or genre is a difficult task and one that I am gonna give up on and just say that WildeStarr have a unique sound and approach to their music. ‘Rage And Water’ is fuelled by guitars heavier than a wrecking ball and drums hitting harder than a heavyweight boxing champion. The vocals are intense and really powerful, even to the extent of a comparison to Rob Halford (singer for the British heavy metal band Judas Priest) and the famous “Halford scream”. Power ballad territory here we come, with the lighters in the air ‘Crimson Fifths’ swaying into sight. The most mellow song on the album, ‘Crimson Fifths’ gives the listener a breather from the pounding aural assault.

Thundering along at a high tempo with insane amounts of energy and intensity, ‘Undersold’ will get heads banging very hard and feet stomping even harder. Add in touches of heavy rock and ‘Undersold’ comes across as a very catchy and infectious romp. Upping the intensity and adding even more catchiness, ‘From Shadow’ is a superb slice of driving power metal. The ability of WildeStarr to seamlessly move from genre to genre is brilliant, their versatility second to none, and their new album an immense statement on the worldwide heavy metal scene. ‘When The Night Falls’ brings the album to a close in blistering style, with pace, power and energy all combining perfectly to produce a thunderous and catchy romp. ‘When The Night Falls’ aptly captures an old saying: “save the best until last”. A great end to a very good album.

Overall, a powerful, pounding and pulsating aural assault of very heavy, very hard hitting heavy metal, spanning many genres, appealing to a wide range of fans.

TRACKLIST

Metamorphose
Beyond The Rain
Pressing The Wires
Double Red
Down Cold
Rage And Water
Crimson Fifths
Undersold
From Shadow
When The Night Falls

http://www.wildestarr.com/index.html
https://www.facebook.com/wildestarrband/

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