Another band returning to the racks after a long lay off are American prog-rockers STARCASTLE whose 5th album "Song Of Times" come a mere 28 years after their last outing. Intricate, complex and melodic it's firmly routed in 70's styled "prog" but maintains a warm, organic flavour lacking for me in much of today's metallic edged, precision hewn progressive metal.

"Red Season" opens the offering with flourishing keyboards, guitar flashes and high pitched vocals akin to JON ANDERSON which immediately renders the comparisons to YES, first cited as the band made there way in the '70s, relevant once again. It just can't be avoided, the voice of AL LEWIS in much the same way as original singer TERRY LUTTRELL, sounds so similar to ANDERSON, whilst YES must at the very least be a strong influence both musically and indeed in terms of lyrical content. For example, the likes of "Song Of Times", "Love Is The Only Place" and "Children Believe" even share that somewhat twee, wistful and often annoying hippy styled optimism of ANDERSON that you'll either love or hate depending on your viewpoint.

Better can be found though in the shape of the excellent "Babylon", a fine song that stands as far and away the best the album has to offer with it's pulsing bass line, big operatic chorus and a majestic vocal hook that just sticks in your head for ages. Epic in nature and length, clocking in at just short of 10 minutes, the band seem to recognise this songs potential too by offering a radio friendly sub-five minute edit at the end of the album. Elsewhere, "Faces Of Change" also impresses as a complex vocal is aided by a more dominant guitar riff that helps 'beef' up the sound a bit.

Ultimately though, especially if like me your unfamiliar with the four original STARCASTLE albums and therefore not an existing fan waiting to welcome back a lost favourite, it perhaps comes down to what you think of YES and whether you fancy listening to a pretender to their symphonic rock throne. If you like them and can stomach another band treading closely to their sound then you should like this. You may however find that this also leads you back to those original YES albums as it certainly did for me anyway. If however you're one of those people for whom the falsetto voiced ANDERSON does little then you'll probably want to avoid STARCASTLE anyway. Strangely however, if this was indeed the new YES album it'd be heralded as something of a success in-keeping with their trademark sound.

- Leslie

OFFICIAL SITE: www.starcastlemusic.com

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