Constellation
Starlight
•
July 27, 2019
![Starlight - Constellation album cover](https://metal-temple.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Starlight-Constellation-album-cover.webp)
In everyday life groups are formed and dismissed before they produce any material or draw a following, yet every now and then there are those who come into existence that gather support, gain traction, and die out as the others yet do not sink into obsolescence or obscurity as those who remember these acts hunger and crave for those melodic memories. Within occasion these acts come back together and deliver upon these demands and requests materials once though lost to the throes of time and disinterest. Enter: STARLIGHT, a Speed and Power Metal band from Stockholm, Sweden whose formation is drawn to 2015 and their dissolution just a few years later in 2018; as interest and demand swelled for something physical their guitarist Valentin sought to act upon these requests and worked together with his former bandmates to record, mix, and master what would become the posthumous "Constellation."
"Constellation" starts up with the deceptively slow "Outbound Flight" which ascends to a much quicker speed just before the first verse starts portraying the band's inclination for Speed Metal right off the back, a unique and odd attribute of the song appears just before the second verse as a low guttural sound crescendos before all the music stops and the sound of a tie fighter from Star Wars fires which rings outs before the instruments rejoin. The bridge is composed of a harmonious medley shared between the guitar and bass before returning to the main theme of the song. As their namesake suggests one of their biggest influence was HELLOWEEN whose formative years is the sound they sought to capture starting out which can be hear easily in tracks such as "The Bounty Hunter," "Starlight Warriors," and "Too Drunk, Too Fast."
The album-at least its majority-was recorded by the guitarist Valentin whom as well as providing both the guitars and bass parts on the album also mixed and mastered every track, with Alex laying down the vocals tracks in one 4 hour session and Johannes providing the drums in a separate 6 hour session all within Valentin's practice space. The tracks and rough cut and quickly spun together but tight fitting all the same, despite the rough edges the vocals are clear and distinct, the guitars gritty and defined, the bass audible and clear, and the drums balanced.
As rarities stand this is itself a great service to the fans that have pleaded for the album's existence whose insistence led to its creation despite the band's schism. As the members of STARLIGHT have gone on to join different bands and pursue different passions they have left this legacy within their wake, a favor to those who supported them and an invitation to those newcomers who happen upon them, "Constellation" awaits those who trek the unknown reaches of the ever expanding soundscape.
7 / 10
Good
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
![](http://metal-temple.com/wp-content/uploads/ma-gdpr-youtube-thumbnails/k2gqbX_fyRU/k2gqbX_fyRU_mqdefault.jpg)
"Constellation" Track-listing:
1. Outbound Flight
2. The Bounty Hunter
3. Fight in the Night
4. Speeding in the Sky
5. Starlight Warriors
6. Planetary Doom
7. Starlight Warriors demo 2016
8. Madness Rising demo 2016
9. Too Drunk, Too Fast demo 2016
Starlight Lineup:
Bror Bengtsson - Ex-Bass
Johannes Frykholm - Drums
Valentin Papp - Guitars and recorded Bass on the album
Alex Härkesjö - Vocals
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