Stardust Reverie
Proclamation of Shadows
Kuiama Records
2015
Stardust Reverie is an international project overseen by Spanish guitarist Victor Banner. Even though they are a little “whatever” as evidenced by their quite comical video for “Universal Horrors” (from their debut) that probably includes some of the worst editing ever, as well as some of the most ludicrous “Green Screen” effects ever committed to a video clip…and using a Russian free blogging site as their official site, not resorting to getting a proper domain – but, “whatever” despite all that... they seem to have been able to secure the services of such people as Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, Alcatrazz), Zak Stevens (Savatage, CIIC), Lynn Meredith (Proto-Kaw), Edu Falaschi (Angra, Almah), Doogie White (Rainbow, M.S.G.), Bill Hudson (Jon Oliva’s Pain, CIIC), Jonas Hansson (Silver Mountain), Marc Pattison (CIIC) and Zuberoa Aznarez (Diabulus In Musica) among many others.
Stylistically the band attempts a neoclassical hybrid with a flair for the theatrical and the odd touch of folk, but how well that’s done is open to debate. The band tries to put to music stories by “The Wizard of Oz”, “The Wuthering Heights”, the “Sandman” and a lot more...
The aforementioned Stevens stars on “Welcome to the Show” the opening statement for the band’s sophomore release, which he manages to elevate to something quite “listenable”, if not for the bizarre announcement that has the “singers” thanking the listener for purchasing (if they have) the album. It sounds quite cheeky and sort of ruins whatever immersion the song might have created so far.
“Imagining Confucius” is a bizarre mid-tempo that sounds like it was produced, completely from another session – I doubt, about how (well) mastered this whole project is, but it features a definitely tired sounding Graham Bonnet that I had trouble, identifying…
Now “Wuthering Heights Part 1” and “All the Secrets of the Dark” I’d have to attribute to Zuberoa Aznarez, who seems to be the only female involved in the project.
Then there’s “Bring Me the Hat of the Wizard From the West” (quite the mouthful) a tune sung by none other than Doogie White, who sounds quite dreamy and croon like…
I would also suspect its ZA on “The Way of Wondering” since she’s the sole female contributor. It is another sort of dreamy soft piece…. That’s not too bad.
“410 Chelsea Street” (an imaginary 70s address of Peter Parker/Spiderman) is another tune sung by White, but this one’s more quirky… just like the hero…
“Wuthering Heights Part Two: Resemblance” has Edu Falaschi singing a rather boring tune in a way that also leaves quite a bit to be desired. Certainly one of Falaschi’s weaker performances and I suspect, it might have been mixed also quite badly…
I have no clue who is singing on the acoustic “Silver Bullet” it might as well be Edu, again.
“Scrooge & Marley” is a pompous instrumental, which features Jonas Hansson from Silver Mountain.
Lastly, there’s “A Twist for Ian (Including Extra Track: Wuthering Heights)” featuring Lynn Meredith from Proto-Kaw, in which he is flexing his musical muscles amply before an acoustic reprise of Wuthering Heights…
Way better than the debut, “Proclamation of Shadows” suffers from being a bit too simplistic and a bit uneven in production and songwriting terms. The professional performances by the people involved save the day largely for this, but it’s not as great as the sum of its parts nor something that you’d feel extremely excited about.
Stylistically the band attempts a neoclassical hybrid with a flair for the theatrical and the odd touch of folk, but how well that’s done is open to debate. The band tries to put to music stories by “The Wizard of Oz”, “The Wuthering Heights”, the “Sandman” and a lot more...
The aforementioned Stevens stars on “Welcome to the Show” the opening statement for the band’s sophomore release, which he manages to elevate to something quite “listenable”, if not for the bizarre announcement that has the “singers” thanking the listener for purchasing (if they have) the album. It sounds quite cheeky and sort of ruins whatever immersion the song might have created so far.
“Imagining Confucius” is a bizarre mid-tempo that sounds like it was produced, completely from another session – I doubt, about how (well) mastered this whole project is, but it features a definitely tired sounding Graham Bonnet that I had trouble, identifying…
Now “Wuthering Heights Part 1” and “All the Secrets of the Dark” I’d have to attribute to Zuberoa Aznarez, who seems to be the only female involved in the project.
Then there’s “Bring Me the Hat of the Wizard From the West” (quite the mouthful) a tune sung by none other than Doogie White, who sounds quite dreamy and croon like…
I would also suspect its ZA on “The Way of Wondering” since she’s the sole female contributor. It is another sort of dreamy soft piece…. That’s not too bad.
“410 Chelsea Street” (an imaginary 70s address of Peter Parker/Spiderman) is another tune sung by White, but this one’s more quirky… just like the hero…
“Wuthering Heights Part Two: Resemblance” has Edu Falaschi singing a rather boring tune in a way that also leaves quite a bit to be desired. Certainly one of Falaschi’s weaker performances and I suspect, it might have been mixed also quite badly…
I have no clue who is singing on the acoustic “Silver Bullet” it might as well be Edu, again.
“Scrooge & Marley” is a pompous instrumental, which features Jonas Hansson from Silver Mountain.
Lastly, there’s “A Twist for Ian (Including Extra Track: Wuthering Heights)” featuring Lynn Meredith from Proto-Kaw, in which he is flexing his musical muscles amply before an acoustic reprise of Wuthering Heights…
Way better than the debut, “Proclamation of Shadows” suffers from being a bit too simplistic and a bit uneven in production and songwriting terms. The professional performances by the people involved save the day largely for this, but it’s not as great as the sum of its parts nor something that you’d feel extremely excited about.