Virus
of the Mind is the second album by Chicago’s
Starkill. Born from the ashes of black metal band, Massakren, the four-piece
have spent every second of their two year history either on the road or in the
studio and it’s clearly paid off – if nothing else, this is an accomplished
album.
Listen to the first few tracks and you
might think you have the Starkill guys pinned: Melodic death with a touch of
thrash and a smidgen of symphonic; the kind of thing Arch Enemy and The Agonist
fans would lap up. Everything’s present and correct: the harmonic leads and chugging
rhythm; the gravelled vocal, the occasional strings – all flawlessly delivered.
But then comes the title track, a death-growled power ballad with a round of
blast beats thrown in for good measure, and... well… it kind of throws you.
To describe Virus as a melting pot is something of an understatement. One
minute you’re on melodic death, the next symphonic black, the next power metal
or power ballad… and sometimes, as is the case with Into Destiny or God of this
World, you’ve got the whole shebang coming at you within a few beats.
In short, Virus of the Mind is an ambitious
album. You have to applaud the ballsiness of it all, of course, especially in a
band so young: Starkill have taken
everything that is metal, including the kitchen sink, and flung it with joyous
abandon. Not since Nightwish released Imaginaerum has there been
such a merry mix of mayhem. And yet at times, it’s this very quality that is the
record’s undoing. With all the genre-hopping going on, it can prove difficult
to find something to grasp hold off; to gain a foothold into the album or find
some sort of connection. It can be exhausting and you have to wonder if in
trying to be all things to all people, Starkill may ultimately alienate some of
their listeners.
On the other hand, for those growing tired of the cut-and-pasteness of
metalcore or the self-indulgent stubbornness of death and black, Virus of the Mind could
be just what the doctor ordered.
Release Date: October 2014
Label: Century Media
