Black Yet Full Of Stars
Black Yet Full of Stars
Rockshots Records
2016
Black Yet Full Of Stars is a quartet made up, when in 2012 guitar player Carlo Dini, who was in a band with his fellow axe slinger Marco Caiterzi, decided to form a band and got drummer Periklis Roussis to join them. They kept composing and refining their songs trying to solidify their sound, which seemed to contrast between symphonic parts and heavier riffs that on occasion bordered even on thrash. David Scott McBee was chosen to be the voice of the band and in late 2015, the eponymous debut of the band was recorded with him filling the singer’s role.
The album is a bit of a concept, about a child growing into a man, with the process mirroring the band’s slow progression for a personal vision to a single unit moving in one direction. The combination of 2 Italians and American and a Greek, is truly what one would call an international effort and in fact the different backgrounds of all these guys make the sound rather unique, with no direct comparisons being possible. McBee is a bit gruff, but has punch, while the instrumentalists come up with some pretty strong but also quite pompous parts that are a little exaggerated. The end result is a bit too bombastic and very constantly in your face for the most part, with only some “slower songs” like a “Boy in Chains” being softer… since the band put the songs in the order they were written from older to newest, one can feel the progress they made, but it’s not until midway the album that they start to gel together well enough and the songs become more interesting and I feel they have some way to go in that respect.
They have prospect, but they need to really hone what they’re doing more and tone down their symphonic tendencies a bit, using them a bit more sparingly and not so high in the mix. Some good ideas are there, but they’re not presented in a way that will win you over, which is a pity, because you can see the band putting in some effort.
The album is a bit of a concept, about a child growing into a man, with the process mirroring the band’s slow progression for a personal vision to a single unit moving in one direction. The combination of 2 Italians and American and a Greek, is truly what one would call an international effort and in fact the different backgrounds of all these guys make the sound rather unique, with no direct comparisons being possible. McBee is a bit gruff, but has punch, while the instrumentalists come up with some pretty strong but also quite pompous parts that are a little exaggerated. The end result is a bit too bombastic and very constantly in your face for the most part, with only some “slower songs” like a “Boy in Chains” being softer… since the band put the songs in the order they were written from older to newest, one can feel the progress they made, but it’s not until midway the album that they start to gel together well enough and the songs become more interesting and I feel they have some way to go in that respect.
They have prospect, but they need to really hone what they’re doing more and tone down their symphonic tendencies a bit, using them a bit more sparingly and not so high in the mix. Some good ideas are there, but they’re not presented in a way that will win you over, which is a pity, because you can see the band putting in some effort.