ALBUM REVIEW: Astronoid – Astronoid

Having brought out two EPs, November, and Stargazer, which were well-received on the American underground metal scene, Boston four-piece ASTRONOID made quite an impact on the world of mainstream metal in 2016 with their unique-sounding debut album, Air, which featured on many of the lists of the best releases to have come out that year, has had over three million Spotify streams to date, and enabled the band to tour North America with the likes of TESSERACT, GHOST, and ZEAL & ARDOR.

Therefore, it would have been understandable had the collective’s self-titled follow-up fallen slightly short of the high standard they had set themselves back then. However, it becomes apparent, pretty much from the opening of first track A New Color, that this will not be the case.

Comprising of nine truly original songs, all crafted with due care and attention, the listener is taken on a sonic journey featuring core elements of dreamy atmospherics and pulsating guitar riffs, with each one of the tracks being dominated by one or the other, for example, numbers such as I Dream In Lines, Lost, and Water are overtly progressive, melancholic affairs containing a hypnotic, reflective sound which is nicely placed on top of subtly aggressive, intense musical compositions, whereas the likes of Breathe, Beyond The Scope, and Ideal World sees the band place much more emphasis on heaviness, with soaring guitar play, buzzing bass lines, and pounding drum beats all coming to the fore, aided by underlying layers of soft melodies.

Uniting these are the presence of a vocal delivery that is layered and harmonic, which, when accompanied by lyrical themes of overcoming self-doubt and creating art in general, is a frank reflection of the seismic changes to the lives of the band members since the release of Air, and how they have matured through that, both as musicians, and as ordinary human beings. In addition, the four-piece seem to have put together this album with a clear view of appealing to as a diverse audience as possible, what with there being plenty on offer musically, but everything blends well effectively, making the tracks sound coherent throughout rather than being one big musical mess.

Overall, Astronoid could have, if the Massachusetts outfit had chosen to rest on their laurels and bask in the critical success that Air brought, been a representation of an array of half-baked ideas, and therefore, a real dip in quality. However, with a steely determination to show everybody just how effectively they have matured, in regards to both sound and songwriting, has resulted in the quartet blowing their debut release out of the water, offering concrete proof that ASTRONOID are certainly not a one-trick pony.

Rating: 8/10

Astronoid is set for release on February 1st via Blood Music. 

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