Starlight Ritual – Sealed in Starlight

Band: Starlight Ritual
Title: Sealed in Starlight
Label: Temple of Mystery Records
Release date: 02 June 2021
Country: Canada
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

Well, this starts in a very promising way… the sound of a bell chiming entwined with a melodic and classic Heavy Metal riff, played by two guitars joining up forces with a low-tuned bass to create a very good intro that put things in their right place. Fasten your seatbelts ’cause “Sealed in Starlight” is a journey through Heavy Metal turning a bit more into Hard Rock at times, this is something that better you don’t lose if you love the genre and have some 70s-80s nostalgia…

“Marauders” starts with a riff that will be repeated through the song, it’s catchy and effective, letting you know what this album is about. Vocals are powerful and strong, Damian sings in a mid-range tone with a raspy voice that fits perfectly the music, and oh those final screams… yeah! Very promising, starting with such an infectious track!

In all songs, the guitar work is great and there are some leads that really stand out (as in “Civilization Lost“ for example), and the sound of the bass is present everywhere, that’s really good! The drums keep a mid-tempo pace almost all the time and sound powerful and energic, must love them!

The longest song turns out to be a ballad, the one with the album title “Sealed in Starlight”. And, even if it’s a bit too long for a song of this kind (it’s my opinion), there are some nice surprises that makes it something different from what you could expect, like the beautiful guitar solo in the middle of it, and the last two minutes and a half: the rhythm speeds up, the guitars unleash and turn into pure melodic frenzy. Wow, that’s a killer ending for a ballad! 

Some of the songs you’ll listen will get stuck in your head ’cause are so catchy, specially the choruses, which I think is delightful. You can sit down, press the “play” button and listen to this album trying to find influences and similarities with “this” or “that” band, and I bet you’ll find many! But this is no needed at all, you can also empty your mind and let the music rush over you, enjoying a great dose of pure Heavy Metal the way it was done years ago, but done the present days, with a clear production and good quality sound. 

“Sealed in Starlight” will be out on June 2nd, don’t sleep on this!  7,5/10  Sílvia

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7,5/10  Victory is possible
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