Starset is a relatively new band in the scene and they have a widely acclaimed album titled ‘Transmissions’ in 2014. The Dustin Bates lead group are back once again with another album ‘Vessels’ to be released in 20th January, 2017 through Razor & Tie. A single “Monster” was released few months back and is the lead single of the sophomore album.
Starset’s 2014 debut on Razor & Tie, “Transmissions”, was not just Starset’s business card itself, but also that of The Starset Society, a mysterious, quasi anonymous group by scientists who are anchored in the real world and facing the dangers of dystopia and a technology out of control. The sophomore album is actually “a data-stream rendered in sound where Bates becomes the deus-ex-machina in an age of information overload that is increasingly complex yet ultimately human.”The Vessels album has been produced by Rob Graves (Halestorm, Red) and mixed by Ben Grosse (Breaking Benjamin).
The fourteen track album begins with a very soothing “Satellite” with a nice intro that goes along well with the theme of the album. The music and processed vocals instantly reminded me of Owl City with a bit of progressive elements. Up next is “Frequency” And it follows along the same lines but incorporates a few sections with harsh vocals and breakdowns. “Die For You” is a very high-on-feels euphonious song and the I personally liked the lyrics very much. “Ricochet” has a very groovy EDM feel to it with occasional bass drops. Both of these songs have heavy Breaking Benjamin influences, so does almost all the songs of this album. The next song is pretty monotonous and did not strike me as that good. “Into the Unknown” brings back energy to this album with its frequent heavy riffs and the alternating clean and harsh vocals.
After this the album somewhat gets monotonous with the songs sounding a bit boring and repetitive. The next song that stands out is “Monster You Made Me” as the vocal range of Bates reaches the full potential in this one. The last song “Everglow” is a very melodious track and brings the album to a good end. The song brilliantly breaks off towards the end to a piano interlude and then there’s heavy riffing again at the outro.
‘Vessels’ sounds like a merger between the heavy progressiveness of bands like Muse and Breaking Benjamin-like feels. Bates has done an overall good job with the album and definitely this one has moved a bit from metal to pop as compared to the previous album. Also sometimes the album gets monotonous and it surely would have been a bit better had there been a little variety.