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Stargate: Unbroken Diamond
Stargate - Unbroken Diamond Album Art

Stargate: Unbroken Diamond

Melodic Metal Rock
5.0/5.0

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Steel Gallery Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 19.01.2022 | Released: 21.01.2022

Returning consistently every three years with a new album is Macedonian band Stargate with their fifth and latest long player, Unbroken Diamond. What never seems to be consistent is the band personnel, sort of. The new players that came with 2019's The Dream remain the same, with the exception of the vocalist. John Jeff Touch is out and replaced by new, and relatively unknown, vocalist with Vassilis Papadopoulos.

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Stargate

But fans should know that some things don't change with Stargate, but only get better. Stargate continues to play classic melodic heavy metal blended melodic hard rock groove and AOR accessibility. Calling them old school is probably lame, but their songwriting moves by the best musical elements: song melody and harmony from both the guitar and vocal arrangements, clean melodic vocals, crafty refrains, vibrant guitar solos, and steady groove from the rhythm section. Conversely, unlike many "modern" metal bands, Stargate eschews harshness for appropriate heaviness without want to make you deaf. Okay, yeah, this is probably old school, but also the right school of melodic metal.

Sampling the album, you'll find some metal heaviness with The Tree, Unbroken Diamond, and Believe, at least at the start. Between the riffs, rhythm section, and tempo Birth Of The Star has something of a power metal-ish vibe. Alternatively, Christmas Night and I'll Wait For You veer more towards melodic hard rock with their emphasis on rock beat and groove, and AORish sensibility, rather than metal heaviness. However, I found two more songs of interest. The first is the opening instrumental Unbroken which is lead by Kostas Domenikiotis' bass guitar. The second is the closing song, another instrumental, Diamond Dust which, with its piano, acoustic guitar, and symphonic synths is, essentially, a classical music piece. It's beautiful. All things considered, with Unbroken Diamond, Stargate offers listeners another exceptional album of classic melodic metal with groove and AOR sensibility. Quite recommended.




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The Take Away

All things considered, with Unbroken Diamond, Stargate offers listeners another exceptional album of classic melodic metal with groove and AOR sensibility. Quite recommended.

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