Stargazer... Prior to this debut full-length album, the Aussie band's discography features: one demo cassette, a 7 EP, a MCD, another 7 EP and the incoming Harbringer 12 LP - coinciding with The Scream That Tore The Sky release (out on CD/ 12 LP/ Picture LP). Well, this definitely is the underground way of living for a band that's struggling to raise its name higher. Like it or not, that's how many bands - mainly 'extreme', back then - caught the attention of fans and companies in order to spread their creative passion for music. O' tempora, o' mores...
Within its ten years of existence, Stargazer - consisting of a two members 'core' all these years - offered the Gloat demo cassette in 1996, followed by the release of the Borne 7 single (1997) for Dream Sovereign Productions. The Harbringer MCD was cut by Dies Irae Productions in 2000 as a 'split' release, also involving Invocation. Another split release, this time a 7 single with U.S. Blacksters Arghosolent, came out in 2002 and one year later the band operated as the opening act in the 2003 Incantation tour, while another slot in an Aussie set of dates took place with U.S. cult heroes Nunslaughter. Not bad...
In flesh: Eleven songs - some dating back to the 90's, as compositions - of Death Metal the technical way, with a good doze of Black Metal elements (blastbeats here and there) and an obvious excellence in instrumental performance. Of course, that doesn't mean that brutality is lacking here! Both The Serpent Inquisitor and The Great Righteous Destroyer seem really 'grinding' towards their musical organs, still there's enough - not too say 'plenty of' - tendency to mix various extreme/obscure stuff. Think of Atheist or Believer with Steve DiGiorgio on the four-string weapon. Add certain dozes of Black Metal screams, growls and howls and you must have received sufficient data by now.
Well, musicianship and chemistry among band members is one thing. The other thing is the songs themselves. Not to be rude, I didn't notice myself being curious to hear any particular song afterwards. Maybe the band focuses so much on their technical skills and does not lean too much on providing some certain hooks - yeap, in every musical style hooks are needed! - resulting in...
...an album not bad at all, but - at the same time - not anything astonishing. Surely applicable to the taste of all Technical Death/Black followers who need more than 12,000,000 npm to show interest, I truly hope to be proven wrong for the likes of the remaining average extreme Metal hordes.