STARBREAKER -

STARBREAKER - LOVE’S DYING WISH - BLISTERING  
Starbreaker is an obscure Judas Priest song from the '70s, which leads one to hope that a better fate befalls the band of the same name. Simply put Love’s Dying Wish is fantastic. Metal fans expect and wish for harder and rougher music with musicians with better images and longer hair, but given melodic metal sub-genre fare Starbreaker is almost marvelous. TNT singer Tony Harnell has transformed his solo ambition into a compact superlative band and given this album a harder edge that has worked. The album begins with a powerful dose of hard rock called End Of Alone, goes through the hook-laden Unknown Superstar (ouch) and ends with This Close and proves during the course of all the songs that the Swedish/Norwegian combo is a serious candidate to be big or bigger should the members just take enough time to take the project seriously. The guitars show impressive presence, but it is the singing and the wails of Harnell that are the album’s stars. In contrast, the drums are buried in the mix especially when the guitars come in for an extra layer. The mix of melodies and power ensures the album does not get mired in typical Frontiers wimpiness and this metal girl is more than happy. - Sheila Wes Det