ASTRONOID – STARGOD

(Andy Synn continues our unexpected love affair with Astronoid on their new album, out now)

It’s funny to think about it – especially given the name of our site (which, again, should be taken with at least a pinch of salt and tongue firmly planted in cheek) but we’ve been supporters of whatever it is that Astronoid do (Post-Rock? Post-Metal? Prog-Pop?) for a long time now.

Heck, if you go all the way back to their time as Vattnet (formerly Vattnet Viskar) then our shared history goes back even further… and while that history hasn’t always been smooth sailing (I still stand by my opinion that their 2019 self-titled was a big let-down after their absolutely stunning first album) we’ve always tried to encourage our readers to give the band’s distinct, yet oddly divisive, sound a chance.

That being said, there’s a couple of things you need to bear in mind before giving Stargod a listen.

The first of which is that Stargod is not Air, and shouldn’t be judged as such (in fact one of the biggest mistakes you can make, whether as a reviewer or just as a listener, is to judge an album based entirely on what it’s not, rather than what it actually is… or, at the very least, what it’s trying to be).

And the second is that if you weren’t a fan of Astronoid prior to this, well, there’s a pretty good chance that Stargod won’t change your mind about that… in fact, if anything, the band’s decision to not only double-down on certain aspects of their sound (their self-appellated brand of “Dream Thrash” always been more Coheed and Cambria than Carcass and Coroner, and that’s even more apparent this time around) but to also give their early 80s Synth-Pop influences (think Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, A-Ha, etc) even more prominence will probably be a deal-breaker for anyone of a more musically “conservative” bent.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t give the album a try if you’re curious… I just want to make sure you’re in the right headspace to appreciate it, and aren’t caught by surprise by what you’re going to hear.

At its best Stargod is equal parts electrifying, ecstatic energy and vibrant, emotive vulnerability, whose crystal-clear – and increasingly synth-heavy – sound gleams and glimmers with unapologetically melodic joie de vivre.

Both opener “Embark” and closer “Arrival” recapture much of the propulsive, irresistible melodic intensity which made Air such a breath of… well, you know what I’m trying to say… while a number of the album’s other standouts – including early highlights like “Love Weapon” and the equally killer (and possibly even more catchy) “Third Shot” – find the band busting out a bombastic combination of hooky, 80s Pop-Rock style guitar work (including a pair of shamelessly showboating solos) and shimmering synthesizers in the vein of Bon Jovi and Def Leppard at their chart-busting best which (suggesting that Astronoid themselves, with the right push, certainly might be able to achieve some similar mainstream success).

Some songs even take this a step further, with the band’s decision to let the keys and synths take the lead a little more during songs such as the gorgeous, New Romantic (or, in this case, maybe that should be “Nu-Romantic”) esque title-track and the bright, breathlessly emotional “Beneath the Lights” (which makes me want to jump in my DeLorean and cruise the coast while the credits roll every time I hear it) also paying off nicely by increasing the already obvious accessibility of their sound without trying to jump on any of today’s more annoying trends and bandwagons.

It isn’t without its flaws, of course – both “Explosive” and “Vicennium” don’t quite manage to rise to the same soaring heights as the song around them, and I’m still torn over the decision not to end with the glorious and unabashed Pop-Rock grandeur of “Depressed Mode” (which, I recently learned, almost didn’t make the final cut) – but the increased confidence on display, not just in terms of Boland’s instantly recognisable and impressively vivacious vocals, but also in reference to the sheer gumption involved in pursuing a sound that, in spite of its obvious radio-friendly promise, still doesn’t quite fit in with the prevailing Pop Music zeitgeist, is undeniably a big part of what makes this both Astronoid‘s most accessible and most ambitious effort since their debut.

And although my personal feelings about Stargod (especially as a long-term fan of the band) are still evolving (and more than a little complicated), there’s no question that, from a critical stand-point, the choice to really focus on the shimmery synth-pop side of their sound feels like it’s really expanded the band’s creative horizons, with the end result being an album that absolutely could – and, if there’s any justice, should – be Astronoid‘s long-awaited “breakout” hit that goes on to introduce them to a whole new audience.

I just hope that, when they finally do hit the big-time, they don’t forget where they came from (or who their fans were at the start)!