Review Summary: Dragonland never fail to deliver epic and melodic music. Starfall here makes no exception.
Dragonland have garnered quite a bit of attention from the underground metal scene, and rightly so. Especially with the release of Astronomy in 2006.
Starfall however, is quite different from your average power metal release. It doesn't contain 'shred' style solos like one might possibly expect, songwriting ability is far more advanced and focuses a lot on fantasy without sounding too cheesey, and the instruments are played in a far more detailed, dynamic and emotional way.
Upon listening to Starfall from start to finish you will immediately realise that it is almost fully dominated by brilliant keyboards, melodic and heavy guitar riffs, also with the brilliant vocal ability of Dragonland's singer, Jonas Heidgert.
The whole album for me, was glorious, epic and a pure pleasure to listen to throughout.
Track reviews:
"As Madness Took me". A perfect opener for the album with a great keyboard and excellently sung chorus. One of the strongest tracks on the album and one of my favourites.
"Starfall". Another stunning track. Opens up with an upbeat keyboard intro and contains some nice guitar work at the bridge. Not a stunning track by any means, but good nonetheless.
"Calling My Name". Starts off quite myteriously with spoken words and then suddenly explodes into a speedy guitar riff and then awesome backing vocals. Another strong track.
"In Perfect Harmony". In my opinion, the weakest track on the album is it doesn't particulary stand-out from the other, but not a bad song by any means at all.
"The Dreamseeker". This is where the album starts to speed up quite a bit. Another one of my favourites. Vocals and guitar really stand out on this one combined with the keyboard keeping a constant melody in the background.
"The Shores of Our Land". A truly epic song. Feels like a big adventure and the longest song on the album. Contains several interesting instrumental parts and brilliant female vocals (and also what sounds like Vikings). Another stand-out track on the album and ends gloriously.
"The Returning". Easily the fastest song on the album. Not the best one, but not a bad song either. Just doesn't particulary stand-out for me.
"To The End of The World". Another particulary brilliant track and changes very quickly throughout and starts sounding rather different from anything off the album.
"The Book Of Shadows Partt I-III". Finally. The album closes with these three intrumental tracks (excluding Part II), and in my opinion are absolutely fantasic. Part I sounds like it could have been on the Lord of the Rings and same goes for Part III. It truly is epic.
Part II for a couple of minutes goes into what we heard previously in the album. Somwhat short, but a stunning track nonetheless, and has quite a Middle-Eastern feeling to it as well.
Overall, I cannot recommend this album enough. It is a brilliant piece of metal with heaviness and melody combined in one. If you are a fan of the genre or simply want something quite to listen to, check this out.
Recommended tracks:
As Madness Took Me
Starfall
The Shores of Our Land
To The End of the World
The Book of Shadows Part I-III
Any feedback for potential improvements would be appreciated.
