DESERT NEAR THE END „Of Fire and Stars”

Total Metal Records, 2019

Music: Power Metal / Thrash Metal

Website:

https://www.facebook.com/DesertNearTheEnd/

https://metalscraprecords.bandcamp.com/album/desert-near-the-end-of-fire-and-stars-2

Duration: 42:19 minutes (9 tracks)

Country: Greece

The band comes from Athens. They changed the name several times. In the years of 1997–2001 they acted as STORMBRINGER, but they didn’t make any releases. From 2001 to 2010, the Athenians used name THE EVENTIDE and played heavy / power metal and recorded one demo and one full-lenght album. Since 2010 they are known as DESERT NEAR THE END and they released three long materials and two singles before the album in this review. So, the Greeks already have considerable achievements.

The music from the latest release was described by the band as power / thrash metal. For me, the album is dominated by thrash, sometimes combined with heavy-metal melody. The music is aggressive, the songs contain interesting moody intros and outros as well as inserts. There are also heavy and dark fragments. Despite of the brutality and variety, the content is a bit boring to listen to. The brutality doesn’t whip a whiplash, though it should. None of the musicians gives their game an individual stigma. But the exception are the nteresting guitarist’s solos. The vocalist sings steadily, without feeling. The melodic lines and rhythmic solutions are unobtrusive.

The Greeks put a lot of energy into their work, but somehow this does not transfer into its attractiveness. According to legend, Yeshua Ha-Nocri said: “Be cold or hot, but do not be lukewarm.” The music on “Of Fire and Stars” is just so lukewarm, without a glimmer, without the element of madness, although it was correctly played. Although if someone is looking only for aggressionin metal, not something more, the latest work of Athenians may like it.

Tracklist:

1. A World Beyond

2. The Call of the Stars

3. Light Long Dead

4. Across the Desert

5. Earth and Water

6. The Highest Hill

7. Throne of Martyrdom

8. The Final Frontier

9. Of Fire and Stars

Line-up:

Alexandros Papandreou – vocal

Akis Prasinikas – bass

Panos Kalompratsos – guitars, choirs

Rate: 6.5/10