Stargate-Reborn

Steel Gallery Records
2013

Back in 2004 Greece's Stargate released their self-titled debut album. It was promptly followed by a long-stretch of, well, nothing. That's right, nothing. Nothing but silence. Only now is Stargate getting around to a proper follow-up. So, with 9 years between their full-length debut album and this, the band's sophomore follow-up, it seems rather poetic for this Greek band to call their new release "Reborn". After all they might as well have been reborn because that is one L-O-N-G gap between releases. Whether they were trying to become the next G N' R is open to debate, but one thing is for sure when it comes to this now full-fledged act (as their self-title LP was more of a project then a band really) and that is this-they have sound down pat! With Dimitris Tiktopoulos back on lead vocals once again (and doing a fine job of it I might add!) the group, who are now joined by keyboard player Andreas Paraponiaris and drummer Stelios Siolas this, takes the listener through song after song of mainly melodic hard rock. Sure, there are some neoclassical moments to be found and some of this could vaguely be called "heavy metal" (such as the title cut), but more then anything this is straight up melodic hard rock with a very distinct European flavor. Maybe its old age creeping up on me (and thus making me more mellow), but I quite enjoyed the softer vibe of "Reborn". Guitarist Anthimos Manti and bassist Kostas Domenikiotis have returned for album number two and perhaps it's that consistency that makes "Reborn" work so well. While I'd hesitate to suggest there's much for traditional heavy metal fans to enjoy about "Reborn" the fact is Stargate features some highly skilled musicians in it's ranks and the result is a smooth sounding affair with sweet melodies and a distinct style that sounded unique to these ears. This one is worth checking out if you are into the lighter side of hard rock.