STARGAZER "Bound By Spells" Mini CD (Personal Records 2024) For nearly three decades, Australia’s STARGAZER have released some of the most complex, evocative, and profound music in underground metal. Since their inception, STARGAZER represent the visionary union of two extraordinary musicians - guitarist Denny Blake aka The Serpent Inquisitor (Martire, Misery’s Omen, Cauldron Black Ram, Intellect Devourer) and bassist Damon Good aka The Great Righteous Destroyer (Mournful Congregation, Misery’s Omen, Cauldron Black Ram). And for the last few years, they’ve been accompanied by the phenomenal drumming of Alan Cadman aka Khronomancer (Tzun Tzu, Ast Voldur, Altars). With their last album, 2021’s Psychic Secretions, STARGAZER tapped into the aggressive energy of their earliest work while continuing to expand upon the progressive elements that feature more prominently in their recent releases. With their three-song EP Bound by Spells - originally released on vinyl last year, but now seeing an overdue CD release courtesy of PERSONAL - STARGAZER strike a similar balance, demonstrating their ongoing innovation, as they evolve and progress over time. Across the 18 minutes of this record, the band’s unparalleled compositional skills are on full display as they deftly maneuver between somber, boldly melodic passages, with arpeggiated chords shimmering against sinuous basslines, and manic, tessellated riffs painstakingly chiseled to reveal their perfect musculature. Despite the extreme sophistication of their music and the thematic complexity of their lyrics and imagery, STARGAZER always avoid pretension, maintaining an unassuming and understated posture. As monolithic and mesmerizing as ever, even with "just" an EP, STARGAZER continue to run circles around their contemporaries with Bound by Spells.
