Not sure if these guy named themselves after the PRIEST song from "Sin After Sin", but after hearing the metallic pastry of an opener "Die For You", I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I see where there are some guys from TNT in the band as well. OK, at this point, I'll ask the clenched-fist, shaved-head tough guy hecklers that didn't get enough love from mom to leave the room. Out guys, c'mon. All clear? OK.

This is melodic hard rock at its zenith. Guitar-wise, we're talking about tasteful restrained, song-enhancing shred magic. If you can deal with those spaghetti-twisters in AVENGED SEVENFOLD, this'll be more fun than those motion-controlled paper towel dispensers. Think QUEENSRŸCHE. Think later RIOT and early MR BIG. Think singers that can actualy sing (I know, left-field crazy ideas like that never catch on these days, just humor me), somewhere between Geoff Tate and the dude from FASTWAY for sure.

The album is very, very produced, thank you very much. AUDIOSLAVE's got nothin' on this machine-buffed mix job. Overall, most of the tracks are winners, but "Light at the End of the World" and "Break My Bones" stand out as the perfect blend of, say John Sykes and Jonathan Cain for the feathered mullet comb-in-the-back-pocket corduroy toting TRIUMPH disciples on your gift list. STARBREAKER keeps one foot in flash-metal panache and the other in tearjerkin' piano fluff that can reduce the savage sheet metal shop workin' dude into a melancholy puppy dog. Hey, we always said AOR doesn't have to stand for "Approximation of RAINBOW". Now you have proof.

- Marchman

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/starbreaker

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Lies

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