STARSET | Vessels | Album Review
NOTE: This review was originally written in early 2017 and posted to DeviantArt on February 26th, 2017.
We're going to be talking about an album today, and this time, it's Starset with "Vessels", the highly-anticipated followup to their debut album "Transmissions". This was an album that made its orbit onto the tongues of fans and the tongues of the rock music elite whenever it first came out, and "My Demons" was a song that catapulted itself into the widespread galaxy of the Top 5 on the rock charts. Their breed of alternative metal/hard rock, comparable to the likes of Breaking Benjamin, Red, and even underground names such as Modern Echo and frontman Dustin Bates' other project Downplay, was a breed that was getting a lot of traction, and it brought them to rising star status. So, the sophomore release is one that has to bring in a lot more to its credit as well as expand upon the intergalactic horizons of the first album. And the space metaphors are here because this is a band with a very interesting gimmick of being a society of people destine to deliver their music to the world.
Much like Starset's first offering, "Vessels" is an album that feels much like a concept album or an experience rather than a normal LP with a set amount of tracks. So, in short, this is a band that could potentially have a full discography of albums that feature tracks that attempt to tie into each other with a concise attitude and a resistant strength. This album is one that has 15 tracks, one of these being an intro track, and some of the tracks have interludes after a song ends which will usually feature electronic or orchestral parts which is a very interesting move and adds to the experience of listening to this album. It also eliminates the amount of tracks as well because, like I said, these interludes are spliced into a few of these tracks, so you won't necessarily be disappointed by the fact that you have 20 tracks and 5 of them are instrumentals. Either way, this idea of putting in interludes can be done well, and this is the thing that you get here.
As for the music goes, the best way I can possibly describe what this band sounds like is a Breaking Benjamin styled band with Red capabilities. The Red similarities are the fact that they have a wide dynamic usage of styles to go into their work, particularly evidenced in the orchestral parts and the "experience" feeling of the album. The Breaking Benjamin comparison really comes into play whenever you consider Dustin Bates' vocals, which are very charismatic and have many different sides to them. This is a man that is able to freely go from soft in his vocal range to soaring, and at times, brutal. There are parts of this album where his screamed vocals come into play, and his performance totally destroys anything in its wake. The musical aspect also has different textures to it as well, as the three other members of this band can often go from a more hooky-melody driven track to a heavy piece of alternative metal to a more atmospheric piece that features a wall of sounds in it.
But, what about the actual fifteen songs that make up this album, including the opening intro? We should get into that right this second. You probably already know about "Monster", that is, if you listen to active rock radio or have already discovered the band and scoped out their music. The intro, titled "The Order", is basically a great piece of ambiance that bleeds right into the first actual song "Satellite", which kicks off the album in a pretty good way, but it's the next track "Frequency" that really gets things going into the awesome department. Although there are some of these tracks here that aren't necessarily as good as others such as "Into The Unknown" or "Unbecoming", which, both of these are still VERY well done and charismatic, but do not have the same feeling as other songs on the album, such as "Starlight" and the prereleased tracks "Back To The Earth" and "Ricochet". It's these three songs that have the same pop hook-heavy nature of the first single and do it just as well and in fact "Starlight" executes it even better than these two tracks.
We're going to be talking about an album today, and this time, it's Starset with "Vessels", the highly-anticipated followup to their debut album "Transmissions". This was an album that made its orbit onto the tongues of fans and the tongues of the rock music elite whenever it first came out, and "My Demons" was a song that catapulted itself into the widespread galaxy of the Top 5 on the rock charts. Their breed of alternative metal/hard rock, comparable to the likes of Breaking Benjamin, Red, and even underground names such as Modern Echo and frontman Dustin Bates' other project Downplay, was a breed that was getting a lot of traction, and it brought them to rising star status. So, the sophomore release is one that has to bring in a lot more to its credit as well as expand upon the intergalactic horizons of the first album. And the space metaphors are here because this is a band with a very interesting gimmick of being a society of people destine to deliver their music to the world.
Much like Starset's first offering, "Vessels" is an album that feels much like a concept album or an experience rather than a normal LP with a set amount of tracks. So, in short, this is a band that could potentially have a full discography of albums that feature tracks that attempt to tie into each other with a concise attitude and a resistant strength. This album is one that has 15 tracks, one of these being an intro track, and some of the tracks have interludes after a song ends which will usually feature electronic or orchestral parts which is a very interesting move and adds to the experience of listening to this album. It also eliminates the amount of tracks as well because, like I said, these interludes are spliced into a few of these tracks, so you won't necessarily be disappointed by the fact that you have 20 tracks and 5 of them are instrumentals. Either way, this idea of putting in interludes can be done well, and this is the thing that you get here.
As for the music goes, the best way I can possibly describe what this band sounds like is a Breaking Benjamin styled band with Red capabilities. The Red similarities are the fact that they have a wide dynamic usage of styles to go into their work, particularly evidenced in the orchestral parts and the "experience" feeling of the album. The Breaking Benjamin comparison really comes into play whenever you consider Dustin Bates' vocals, which are very charismatic and have many different sides to them. This is a man that is able to freely go from soft in his vocal range to soaring, and at times, brutal. There are parts of this album where his screamed vocals come into play, and his performance totally destroys anything in its wake. The musical aspect also has different textures to it as well, as the three other members of this band can often go from a more hooky-melody driven track to a heavy piece of alternative metal to a more atmospheric piece that features a wall of sounds in it.
But, what about the actual fifteen songs that make up this album, including the opening intro? We should get into that right this second. You probably already know about "Monster", that is, if you listen to active rock radio or have already discovered the band and scoped out their music. The intro, titled "The Order", is basically a great piece of ambiance that bleeds right into the first actual song "Satellite", which kicks off the album in a pretty good way, but it's the next track "Frequency" that really gets things going into the awesome department. Although there are some of these tracks here that aren't necessarily as good as others such as "Into The Unknown" or "Unbecoming", which, both of these are still VERY well done and charismatic, but do not have the same feeling as other songs on the album, such as "Starlight" and the prereleased tracks "Back To The Earth" and "Ricochet". It's these three songs that have the same pop hook-heavy nature of the first single and do it just as well and in fact "Starlight" executes it even better than these two tracks.
"Gravity Of You" and "Last To Fall" are my two highlight tracks on here, though, as these are very different sounding tracks, one of them being relentless and heavy while still having a catchiness to it, while the other is a track that shares similar qualities with "Monster" and "Starlight". These are the two tracks that I have noticed have the most playback value to them out of this vast bunch of songs, and they are the tracks that are executed the best out of them. "Gravity Of You" is especially good considering it uses a lower guitar tuning while being a song that could play very well on the radio, which is a clever idea that isn't embraced nearly as much as it really should be. But, we need to also mention the final track "Everglow", which really does bookend this album very nicely, as it's the longest track on the album, clocking in at a meaty 7-8 minutes, but most of it is probably due to the orchestration at the end. But, the actual track itself is very atmospheric, and you're thinking it's going to stay a softer track on the album, but then the climax which has a lot of heavy ambiance, including some of the screamed vocals from the frontman and overall heaviness for lack of a better term, hits you, and you start to realize that this is a very climactic experience that leads to very positive things. The heavy kick to the teeth that this song has to offer feels very deserved and fits nicely with the track and doesn't feel like they're just adding a heavier part in order to ruin it. It's a track that closes this album in a very fitting way and makes this album a complete album.
Overall, Starset is a group that is continuing to progress as a band with this album, and I feel like with their next album, this is a band that will only improve upon their craft. They've already successfully completed the task of writing and constructing two great and promising albums that actually do feature a lot of depth to them and aren't just the same old shtick of the style that they're easily associated with, and "Vessels" may actual be the album that excels this band into being one of the most recognizable names in this genre as time goes on. But, even though this is a fantastic and remarkable album, there's still room for this band to get REALLY good lyrically, musically, and prominently. However, this is a band that has managed to already get to the point of being that good. This is a disc that will at least be in the Top 5 as soon as 2017 is over, and the reason this will be placed at the summit of that list is because it's a disc that reveals more of the cinematic sides of this band but also more of the real depth and value.
RATING: 8/10
What did you think about the record? Was it good? Was it bad? Let me know in the comments below. And of course, these are only my opinions. If your opinions are different, awesome! If they're similar, then that's great, too. So, don't hesitate- comment to me about it down below. Take care.
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