STAR ONE — Space Metal (review)

Album · 2002 · Progressive Metal

4/5 · 2010-12-10
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Space Metal is actually a progressive metal album but with lyrics based around science fiction films and TV shows. It sounds cheesy on paper but it works really well. The debut album by the project which is led by Arjen Lucassen of Ayreon fame, it manages not to sound like Ayreon mark II however. Both may be progressive metal but this album provides a refreshing change to Lucassen’s huge concept albums. The only thing that is like Ayreon on here is the fact that there is more than one singer, four to be exact.

And what a four they are. First we have Symphony X’s Russell Allen, who in my opinion has one of the best voices for this sort of music. He provides the power behind the songs as well as some more gentle tones. His standouts on Space Metal are The Eye of Ra and Intergalactic Space Crusaders.

Secondly we have Damian Wilson of Threshold fame. He and Allen share the majority of the vocals on Space Metal, and they balance each other out well as there are no similarities between their voices. The duet between Wilson and Allen in Intergalactic Space Crusaders is essential listening.

Providing female vocals on the album is After Forever’s Floor Jansen. Although she has a great voice she is actually my only complaint about Space Metal, although through no fault of her own. She has simply been under-used, with her voice being very rarely heard in these songs. I find that a shame.

Last but not least is Dan Swano of Nightingale, whose voice is the only one not previously heard on an Ayreon album. I’d only heard him growling previously and his voice came as quite a surprise as he’s really versatile, and often opens up the songs on Space Metal. His haunting vocals in Starchild are amazing, I’d say that’s his standout point on the album.

Song wise the album is really strong too. Lucassen has opted to add an intro type track that sounds as if it could easily be a part of the first proper song, Set Your Controls. Tracks of this kind always seem like a stupid idea to me, although saying that, this one (titled Lift Off) is at least a piece of proper music, unlike some intro tracks I’ve heard. What bugs me the most about it is that the last chord doesn’t actually finish until Set Your Controls starts. It’s a perfect example of why I think Intro type tracks are generally a bad idea and should be avoided.

As I said, the songs on Space Metal are really strong, but I’ll give special mention to The Eye of Ra, Intergalactic Space Crusaders and Starchild. The Eye of Ra because it is the best song that uses the skills of all four of the singers. Intergalactic Space Crusaders because the vocal argument between Russell Allen and Damian Wilson. And Starchild mainly because of Dan Swano’s vocals and its progressive versatility.

But I have to give extra special mention to Perfect Survivor, which is based on Alien, solely because of how well thee film has been interrupted into song lyrics. I never used to like the song so much as some of the others but after many listens its become one of my favourites from the album. Damian's vocals are quite addictive here and it is actually the only song from Space Metal that I usually feel inclined to play on repeat.

All in all a very solid album. Not Lucassen's best but another solid addition to any fan's Lucassen/prog/metal collection.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)