adg211288 The Russian power-thrashers Distant Sun have been around now since 2010, but after their debut EP Sunless Citadel (2011) it took several years before they were heard of again. However with their first album Dark Matter (2015) under their belt and their line-up increasing from a duo to a trio, the band now seem to be moving full speed ahead and Into the Nebula (2016) is their second album.

Dark Matter served up an aggressive blend of power metal and thrash metal and that's exactly the sort of thing we continue to get on Into the Nebula. There are noticeable differences between the two albums though, especially evident if you listen to them back to back. Into the Nebula has a stronger presence of melody during its power metal parts, while still presenting a hard sound. Likewise the vocals of Alexey Markov can tend towards more melodic singing than on the debut, resulting in some pretty catchy choruses, while still returning to the harder singing style familiar from Dark Matter. These two things combined make the album feel like an altogether more polished release from Distant Sun. The lead single God Emperor is an especially good track. Based on Frank Herbert's Dune series (specifically and obviously the fourth book God Emperor of Dune), Distant Sun treat their listeners to aggressive thrash metal verses and a catchy power metal refrain, seamlessly blending the two genres into one power-thrash sound as big and powerful as one of the planet Arrakis' sandworms. This is exactly how I've always thought a classic power-thrash track should sound.

Aside from Frank Herbert and Dune, Distant Sun draw a lot of inspiration from literature in their music. If the name Throne of Iron wasn't obvious to start with, the lyrics will dispel any doubt once the song gets going. Of course it's George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones on TV). None too subtle with its lyric references with memorable lines used such as 'win or die', 'the night is dark and full of terrors' and 'what is dead may never die'.

One of the best tracks on the album is The Tharks, which is actually a cover from another Russian power metal band called Barsoom. Inspired by A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, a 1912 serialised novel (full version published in 1917), I initially wasn't aware that the track wasn't a Distant Sun original and naturally upon learning that had to seek out Barsoom's version to hear. It's a rare case where I think a cover version vastly surpassed the original. Distant Sun really make this one their own, while also making it sound very much like a lost Blind Guardian track circa 1990 - 1995. The track starts off soft and acoustic, but steadily gets heavier and most aggressive as it goes along. Brilliant. Of course it's a strong album across the whole duration though. My Trust and Game of War, the opening duo, also deserves a mention as does the catchy The Battle That Never Ends.

As much as I enjoyed their debut album Dark Matter, it's Into the Nebula that really proves that Distant Sun are a powerful force emerging from the Russian metal scene. I expected good things from the album after the strong debut, but I have to say that all expectations were exceeded with this release. I'll be following this band a lot more closely from now on.

adg211288 Dark Matter (2015) is the debut full-length album by Russian power/thrash metal act Distant Sun. Distant Sun have existed for a few years now and previously released the EP Sunless Citadel (2011) but seem to have been completely silent in the intervening years, possibly due to the membership's involvement in other bands, which includes Shadow Host and Starsoup.

The connection to Shadow Host is pretty apparent in the music found on Dark Matter. The album presents a quite similar style to that found on the other band's Apocalyptic Symphony (2013) album, which Distant Sun's Alexey Markov also sang on. This is primarily a guitar driven kind of power metal but with a very strong thrash metal side which not only gives some great power-thrash tracks but also results in ones like the opening Prophet of the Mean, which barely have anything to do with power metal. The vocals are quite harsh and raw sounding (not growling but not that far off from that more extreme territory either), though true to the form of power metal there is still plenty of room for catchy choruses. There's lots of aggression in both the music and the vocals, but the album does also offer up a softer, more melodic side with a laid back pace, as heard in parts of the title track before the band launches into some bursts of the power metal speed. There's also an acoustic track to be had in Gifts of Journey, which unlike with other power metal albums, especially aggressive power metal albums like Dark Matter, doesn't hurt the album's flow.

Dark Matter is a pretty solid record, combing the energy of power metal with the rawness of thrash metal to great effect. Track highlights for me have to be Kill the Fremen, Dark Matter, Matrix Hacked and Zero to Hero. As the production job on the album isn't over-polished even though the actual style of the power metal riffs is quite typically European the album as a whole may find more listeners in USPM and thrash camps, though fans of the German brand as played by an act like Grave Digger will probably want to give Distant Sun a try as well. This debut album from the Russian group isn't exactly revolutionary within the genre, but these guys know their stuff and throw in an impressive variety to make it stand out. 4 Stars.