vote
6.5
- Bands:
STARLIGHT RITUAL - Duration: 00:47:42
- Available from: 10/31/2025
- Label:
-
High Roller Records
Streaming not yet available
After a couple of EPs dedicated to psychedelic doom metal, Canadians Starlight Ritual found their ideal dimension in 2021 with the release of their debut, “Sealed In Starlight”, which sees them turn towards heavy metal strongly rooted in the tradition of the Old Continent.
“Rogue Angels” represents a further step in this direction, with the band committed to giving a more solid shape to their style. According to a well-established formula of the recent NWOTHM movement, Starlight Ritual also looks back to that golden period between the Seventies and Eighties, a microcosm with blurred edges in which hard rock and heavy metal blend with coherence and continuity. In their case, specifically, we found ourselves faced with a sound that collects the impetuosity of British metal (Iron Maiden, Grim Reaper), and blends it with the instinctive class of bands like Thin Lizzy and Rainbow. Finally, quite secondary is a certain taste for epic metal, which is reflected above all in the more rhythmic passages.
As we have already often underlined, faced with such a codified style in itself, what really distinguishes a band is the effectiveness with which the commandments written decades ago are expressed and Starlight Ritual, from this point of view, are a bit in the middle. It is undeniable how the band is competent in what it does, with well-played songs and a clear direction, which finds its maximum expression precisely in the most epic moments (the final “Exodus”, for example), or when our band bite the brakes and let themselves go headlong into fast and melodic songs, like “Omenkillers”. At the same time, however, it seems to us that the band is still not able to be so incisive as to be able to convince in every way, as if theirs were top quality material, which however has not been treated with the necessary skill. This translates into formally well-made songs, which however soon disappear from memory, without really managing to restore that personality of someone who has taken a leap forward towards maturity. It is true, however, that we are talking about a band on their second album, which therefore has every right not to have reached the full expression of its potential. In light of all this, therefore, we are happy to remain with an overall positive opinion. Without necessarily expecting a masterpiece, “Rogue Angels” is a record that can still find several admirers among fans of bands like Enforcer, Haunt and Wytch Hazel.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
