Victims of the Modern Age

Originally published at http://suite101.com

Coming off the success of the newly established Guilt Machine's debut in 2009, former Ayreon mastermind Arjen Lucassen has moved forward in his career by resurrecting an old project that was originally meant to be a single album affair.

Originally formed as a way for its creator to write heavier music and express his love of science fiction themes, Star One has returned for another go with a mix of its signature elements and a few new tricks along the way.

While the first album with Guilt Machine went to great lengths to show off Lucassen's somber side, the second Star One effort returns to the over the top power-prog metal style that his followers have come to know and love.

Of course, there are a few inevitable changes that have come with the time that has passed. The songs are on here aren't quite as happy-go-lucky as those on the debut and may actually be some of the heaviest and darkest tracks that Lucassen has ever written.

But with the various changes that have taken place, there is still a great sense of familiarity as just about every performer from Space Metal is back for another great round. As expected, the album's four singers stand out the most.

In particular, Symphony X's Russell Allen and Edge of Sanity's Dan Swano do an astounding job of leading the songs while Threshold's Damian Wilson and After Forever's Floor Jansen provide some great support. There are other vocalists such as the underrated Tony Martin that appear on the album's bonus disc, but this version is still something of an unfortunate rarity that managed to elude this particular reviewer.

But as with every other Lucassen masterpiece, the keyboards also manage to stand out on several occasions and greatly aided by the polished production. It might be incredibly cheesy to some, but the presence of some awesome guitar riffs and solos manages to keep everything in balance.

Also expected with Lucassen's work is great songwriting to go along with the technicality at hand. A majority of the songs on here secure themselves in the realms of prog with a power metal twist every now and then. As a result, most of the songs on here are energetic, fast-paced, and based around uplifting choruses.

Having said that, there are some inevitable shades of the Guilt Machine's melancholic sound. Earth That Was features a somewhat somber chorus despite its chug-worthy verses. The bitter tone that appears on the title track and the darkness of 24 Hours are also worth noting.

The lyrics are also noteworthy for continuing the Star One tradition of writing exclusively about science fiction films and TV shows. Throughout the album, a good movie buff will be able to find references to such classics as A Clockwork Orange, Planet of the Apes, and The Matrix, among others.

But while the lyrics make for great Easter Eggs, understanding them isn't essential to appreciating the album itself. If anything, it's quite similar to Blind Guardian's famous book obsession.

All in all, this is another fantastic album from one of the most talented masterminds in progressive metal. While Ayreon is gone for the time being, this and the Guilt Machine debut prove that Lucassen has many tricks up his sleeve and plenty of ways to keep himself relevant in the music world.

I would highly recommend this album to already-established fans of the man's work in addition to admirers of bands such as Symphony and Dream Theater. Hell, I would even recommend it to science fiction connoisseurs on the basis of the lyrics serving as a pretty decent gateway.

Current Highlights:
Digital Rain, Earth That Was, Victims of the Modern Age, Human See, Human Do, and Cassandra Complex

Having grown a bit tired with the 'atmospheric and profound' musical direction he took with Ayreon and his other latest project Guilt Machine, musical mastermind Arjen Luccassen has decided to take his exploits in a different direction once again. Wanting to do something a bit heavier and primal, it seems natural that Arjen would pursue his most metal-oriented project, 'Star One.' Self-professed as 'space metal,' this music is based greatly on heavy guitar riffs, soaring technical vocals, and a sprinkling of psychedelic, otherwordly energy to let it live up to it's label. With his second bout with Star One, Arjen has created a fairly strong release that lives up to his reputation. 'Victims Of The Modern Age' will likely not go down in history as being one of Luccassen's better works, but it is enough to surely satisfy the majority of his fans.

Somewhere up above in the stars, Arjen Luccassen, Odin, and Jimi Hendrix and the like must be looking down on Earth in utter dissapointment. As one might guess from the album's title, the music expresses Arjen's disdain for the current state of things in society. With topics generally derived from dystopic science fiction (a prevalent theme in Arjen's work) there is a generally rebellious tone in the lyrics. While the themes Luccassen is covering here are certainly ambitious to say the least, the lyrics don't really feel up to par. While I found the lyrical content on most of his work with Ayreon to be very clever and effective, the lyrics are generally kept simplistic and contribute little to the overall enjoyment of the work.

In terms of the music itself, things are kept relatively heavy throughout. Driven by crunchy guitars and the thunderous percussion of Ed Warby, it is clear that this something other than Ayreon, despite obvious similarities the two may share. While Arjen is certainly an able guitarist and performer (as has been proven by much of his prior work), the riffs here are quite simple, and generally only serve to contribute to the songwriting. A few skillful guitar and keyboard solos grace the mix as well, but the real musical highlight here are the vocalists, as well as the way they are used in the music. Among the rest of the singers are Russell Allen (of Symphony X), Damian Wilson (of Threshold) and even Dan Swanö of death metal fame. The vocals here are generally very melodic, and many of the vocal lines are drenched in catchniess. The real star here is Damian Wilson, whose brilliant operatic tone works beautifully with the heavier atmosphere of the music.

'Victims Of The Modern Age' may be a good album to rock out to, but anyone expecting a masterpiece will be dissapointed here. While the music is well executed, Star One does not seem to have the same magical quality that many of Arjen's other projects have. The album seems to be what it was meant to be however; a fun and melodic dose of melodic heavy metal; the sort of thing that would be great to hear live someday. A pretty good album nontheless, and anyone starved to hear something from Arjen Luccassen should give this album a good listen.

To me, it’s quite rare to find a bastion of discernable talent and ability in the daily-changing metal underworld. Yes, there are riff-daddys, soloing machines, and instant-career one-hit wonders, but what of the composers? The free-thinkers? The TRUE artists? Well, after all these years I’ve only found a few in the hundreds of thousands of faceless distortionphiles that have the capacity for musical genius; your Frank Zappa, your Vintersorg, and, above all else, your Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ever since “Into the Electric Castle” stormed my ears, I’d been totally immersed in the amorphous, endlessly evolving musical ability of Mr. Lucassen, and that ended up spilling over into his various side projects, including his riff-heavy Star One group. “Space Metal” was a fantastic foray into progressive space rock madness which, to my dismay, was meant to be a one time affair. However, time has a way of throwing you a curve ball or two, and a new Star One album came right outta nowhere for all of us to partake in.

And so, with all those pins and needles on my feet, I dove in, wondering if all that time had been friendly…

From the first second to the last, “Victims of a Modern Age” is a spectacular disc, riddled with everything that’s made “Space Metal” as brilliant as it was, but with a different feel…a powerful, darker edge that makes it much more dramatic. And understandably so, given the subject matter (movies involving the end of the world as we know it, and us feeling fine). Whereas the first album presented a flight-and-fancy-free notion that made space travel a delightful practice, this new one displays the more monstrous and troubled side of reality, the inescapable darkness and miasmic madness of, say, a head-first dash into a black hole after a jolly jaunt through a harmless and beauteous cluster of stars. With this sort of thing, one would expect the deluges of powerful and punishing guitar/bass riffs, wieldy Hammond organ tandems, atmospheric synthesizers and monstrous drum work to cascade all over the listener with the reckless abandon that is far lacking in so many modern metal acts in this day and age. And cascade it does, with Mr. Lucassen’s incredible compositions creating an image that’s equally stunning, surreal, and barbaric in all its many intrinsic faces. When all brought together, the outside world pretty much ceases to exist, and the ever-so addictive Amazing Flight in Space is initiated, transporting both attention and imagination into eras and places unknown and unfathomed. But it’s made even better (if that were at all possible given the already incredibly high standards this disc possesses) when Arjen’s cavalcade of vocal wonderment brings those notions to penultimate life. Taking cues from the overall arrangements, the bombastics are not at all in short supply; whether it’s Floor Jansen’s siren wails, Damien Wilson’s desperate lamentations, Russell Allen’s powerful air-raid warnings or Dan Swano’s deep-and-dreary rumblings, all forms of listener have more than plenty to take in and enjoy to their hearts’ content, from the upbeat rockers of “Digital Rain” and “Human See, Human Do” to the slower, more crawling ventures of “Earth That Was” and “24 Hours”. A finer smorgasbord of musical greatness has yet to be seen in this or any very previous year.

In the end, Star One’s latest is another excursion into the dark caves of Mr. Lucassen’s twisted, yet brilliant, mind. In these days of dime-a-dozen “metal” acts, it’s always so refreshing to fall ass-backwards into an old favorite and have all it’s worth swarm over you like the enveloping black of the universe itself. Love it, love it, LOVE IT!