STAR ETERNAL is a music project based in Melbourne, Australia. The main composer sings on some of the tracks, and also has a host of guest singers, some well-known while others not so much. According to his Bandcamp page, "Atlas" is his third offering, and contains thirteen tracks.

The title track leads off the album. It begins with that familiar Power Metal romp, with a thick and full rhythm section with keyboards. The male and female vocalists here are excellent and work very well together. "Exclusion Zero" begins with soft keys and some ominous tones. The slower pace allows some more emotions and melody into the music, and the vocalist has really nice mid-range pipes. "Goodbye" is a shorter song with a quicker pace. This tender song has hints of AOR to go along with both clean and semi-clean female and male vocals. Much of the bigger melodies are in the chorus.

"Dangerous Game" begins with another faster pace and a raspy throated vocalist who sings with a lot of vibrato. The music is a little more complicated here. "Into the Night" begins with double bass and plenty of balls. The song loses me in a couple spots as the melody goes to some unexpected places. "Don't Look Back" begins with mid-tempo groove and features again a very strong vocalist. From there however, the sound is very much expected and does not veer off the track. A strong vocalist can only take a project so far.

"Daylight" is one of the more memorable songs on the album, featuring a wonderful female vocalist and some real meaty hooks. A little more of this sound would have gone a long way on the album. "Chasing the Sun" begins with atmospheric tones and keys, leading to a stronger and darker sound. But another mid-tempo song is not necessary on the album...it can mire down what I term as the "mid-tempo blues." "Star Divine" closes the album, and it has another expected sound. The keys are featured more here which I love...keys and piano are a must in my world. But the instrumental just follows the numbers in terms of what is laid out. I am not asking for mistakes, but it's OK to deviate from the plan a bit.

The music is slick, rich, and everything that you would expect from a Power/Progressive Metal outfit. But, that is precisely the problem. Many of the songs sound generic in terms of the chord progressions. Insert vocalist one, and vocalist two, and the songs come to life, but as an outfit of 13, there are no surprises, and nothing out of the ordinary, which is fine for some people I suppose. I like my music with at least some surprises...and if not, the melodies better be quire catchy...they are just not here. Well put together, and well produced, but it just doesn't have much of a pulse.