Well, I think I accepted this CD for review by mistake (damn munificence...). Not having any hint 'bout what Star Queen might sound like, the Net trap - where I ran for info - shammed my immaculate criteria and here I am in the middle of plain rhythm guitars, goth melodies and aery female vocals.... Yanni, can we meet to give you what's unarguably for Your Ears? Alright, seriously: the challenge drives you against your fears (or your allergies...), so let's move on to the point!
Star Queen is a project band founded by 24 year old female Bulgarian vocalist/songwriter Stella Tormanoff, previously involved in local bands such as Thunderbird, Transylvannia and Mystical. Along with Swedish guitarist Thorbjorn Englund and bass player Erik Tornberg of Winterlong, also featuring Greek keyboard player Bob Katsionis and drummer Tony Eriksson, all under the supervision of guitar virtuoso Lars Eric Mattson (ex-Eternity/Vision/Condition Red) - Mattson discovered Stella from a demo tape she had sent to Lion Music, among various record companies - the band's (?) debut album Faithbringer was released in 2002 through the Finnish Lion Music label. With no solid lineup, no tour could take place of course. So, in 2004, the follow up Your True Self is released by Lion Music again, featuring a new rhythm section of bassist Peter Uven (Embracing, Xenopage) and drummer Mats Holma (Mattson is believed to have played rhythm guitar, also).
Your True Self shows up a band in the general attitude of symphonic/goth-influenced/female-melancholy-filled music. Ignorant in point of their Faithbringer debut, this CD features a powerful sound with gothic and melancholic vocals and harmonies. Dark lyrics, classic Metal rhythm guitars and a somehow progressive orchestrtation of all tracks fill this effort, in the foreground of which the voice of Stella Tormannoff has the main role. Without being in any way relevant to this kind of music, Stella's voice is a little bit average (without being bad) and definitely under the Tarja-wanna-be property. Thus, not much can be accomplished in terms of ingenuity as the whole decor resembles acts like Nightwish - I also think Stella should take care of her accent also.
If you're into this 00's female Metal kind of stuff, you can check out this CD, though I'm not sure you'll be repleted... But if you're not and you wanna see what's it all about in this sub-genre, better go and check out Nightwish first. 'Nuff said...