After nearly a decade away, Sweden’s Deathstars are back to reward their fans with a brand new and absolutely brilliant album.
Initially founded back in 2000, the Industrial Metal band has an interesting, rich history. To start with, the band came into shape when Nightmare Industries and Bone W.a Machine decided to take a different artistic approach than previous projects; those which included Swordmaster and Dissection. Creating a new identity, they made a strong first impression back in 2002 with their debut album Synthetic Generation. Featuring elements of Metal, Industrial, and Gothic Rock, the album put them on the map so to say; later finding them touring the likes of Korn, Cradle of Filth and Rammstein. Sharing the stage with an impressive list of legendary bands, Deathstars become a little bit of a legend themselves. Why? Well, besides producing a pretty perfect brand of Industrial Metal, their live shows are also quite impressive.
Fast forward to 2023, they are back with vengeance with the release of Everything Destroys You on May 5th through Nuclear Blast. Marking their fifth full-length studio album, with the previous being 2014’s The Perfect Cult… it sure has been a while. In that time lapse a few things have changed too; including their reunion with Guitarist Cat Casino and welcoming of new Drummer Nito. Together, they join up with mainstays Nightmare Industries (guitar/keyboard), Whiplasher Bernadotte (vocals), along with Skinny Disco (bass). All these factors in mind, the album has the typical sound of Deathstars; which is somewhere between Gothic, Metal and Industrial. All of this is combined with a dash of glam and glitter… at least when you have their live shows and music videos in mind.
Ten new songs in total, “This Is” opens the album with a strong and demanding rhythm, which will pull you into Deathstar’s world immediately. Thereafter, “Midnight Party” brings along a catchy melody that somehow still does not lack any gloom and doom. This is while “Anti All” has a harsh beginning after the opening melody, which then softens a bit before settling in with a steady rhythm that will get you moving along.
From here, the title-track is almost smooth in comparison. And then there is “Between Volumes and Voids” which comes at you with female backing vocals that are almost hypnotizing. Pumping it up some more, “An Atomic Prayer” begins with a marching tone before moving on to a wave-like melody, “Blood For Miles” gets your adrenaline flowing even more, before “The Churches Of Oil” hits you with a slightly more creepy sound.
Rounding out the collection, “The Infrahuman Masterpiece” begins with a soft piano before the distorted guitars set in, and closer “Angel of Fortune and Crime” pushes your adrenaline level to the brink while playing with it by going back and forth between pushing arrangements, all matched with soft moments.
Overall, Everything Destroys You is a strong and impressive return for Deathstars. Each song carries its own unique mix of glam and doom, all with a hint of horror. Compounding it all, Whiplasher’s voice takes you by the hand and guides you through the darkness oozing from each song. Full of character that resonates profoundly, Cryptic Rock gives Everything Destroys You 5 out of 5 stars.
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