Huntress – Starbound Beast

Band: Huntress

Album: Starbound Beast

Record Label: Napalm Records

Release Date: June 28th

Reviewed By: Mark Booth

 

For Fans of:  Nightwish, In This Moment, Hammerfall

Standout Tracks:  Starbound Beast,  Zenith, Spectra Spectral, Alpha Tauri

 

Okay lets not beat around the bush, most people have only heard of HUNTRESS because of easy on the eye front woman Jill Janus and not because of their musical prowess. ‘Starbound Beast’ is HUNTRESS second album and follows up debut album ‘Spell Eater’, now I have heard that ‘Spell Eater’ wasn’t a very good album (not heard it so I cant comment personally) and the media interest was all focused on Jill Janus and not the music. So do HUNTRESS rectify the problems of the first album? Well read my review and find out from your resident NAPLAM RECORDS reviewer…

HUNTRESS offer up a good old slab of metal, nothing more and nothing less. The riffs go from a wall of fevered sonic flames to a more melodic slow tempo approach and the rhythm section prowls alongside the guitar riffs and push the songs forward like a powerful metal juggernaut. This is then accompanied by Jill Janus who can go from a husky growl to a high pitched scream with a sultry voice in between and she can switch at the drop of a hat which is an impressive skill. To be honest Jill has a very strong voice to back up her looks and the band actually gel together as a unit, in some female fronted bands everything is pushed to the background and the focus is on the singer in terms of the music and publicity.

 

The weakest track on here is (as some other people have already pointed out in reviews) the song ‘I Want to Fuck You To Death’ which was co-written by God (who would be Lemmy Kilmister, anyone say Ozzy and I will slap you!!!), it isn’t a bad song musically but doesn’t fit with the rest of the album. However the lyrics are a little dumb and seen as Lemmy has made a living out of songs slathered in sexual innuendos this is a little disappointing! However the rest of the album holds up and this song shouldn’t deter people, although they should have maybe put it later on the album as I can see some people turning off after this song.

 

‘Starbound Beast’ is a little like the IRON MAIDEN albums ‘No Prayer for the Dying’ and ‘Fear of the Dark’, as they contain a few stand out tracks but the rest of the album is just standard by the numbers heavy metal, not bad and not great…just in between. HUNTRESS are famous for the wrong reason (because of Jill Janus for the simpletons), however ‘Starbound Beast’ is a step in the right direction and songs like “Starbound Beast”, “Zenith”, “Spectra Spectral” and “Alpha Tauri” all show this progression and that they can play some great songs. However this isn’t a finished product, but they are definitely on the right path and they can only get better (hopefully)…

 

SCORE – 6.5 out of 10

 

Track Listing:

1  Enter the Exosphere

2  Blood Sisters

3  I Want to Fuck You To Death

4  Destroy Your Life

5  Starbound Beast

6  Zenith

7  Oracle

8  Receiver

9  Spectra Spectral

10 Alpha Tauri