Sternenstaub (stardust in English) have been operating since 1997, but only now the debut album sees the light of a day. Man behind this is Bernd Grünwald and his goal was to fuse classical music with black metal. Please, keep on reading, since this is something quite different when compared to all those "symphonic black metal" bands.

There's a same concept in all the songs: everything on Earth, including mankind, is made of stardust. "From dust to dust", since nothing lasts forever. I personally find it more interesting as satan and such any day and the lyrics aren't too easily comprehended. Cosmic vocabulary has been used a lot, but self-realization is another concept. Generally, the lyrics are well written. Cover art's style is a bit overused nowadays, but don't let that feint you, since Sternenstaub have created quite an individual platter.

Classical influence is audible in synthesizer work. Layers of keyboards are as fundamental part of the music as metal. The synths aren't usual one-finger stupidity, but really composed. Interesting new ideas, but also something familiar. One thing, that I don't really like is amount of preset sounds used; a lot. In my ears, some sounds are lame, like that one "imitating oboe" or something. When considering the classic influence, there's not much string sounds utilized. Electronic bleeps are actually under-used! I think they might have brought in more of that cosmic atmosphere, which is reduced by the lame preset synth sounds, just as is dark atmosphere. I don't know how much of synth work is Stefan Traunmüller's, but this reminds me a lot of his other band's, Golden Dawn's, material. Also "Mediterranean" is what comes to my mind about the synths. One thing I'm pleased with are real drums, performed by ex-Abigor skinsbasher Moritz Neuner. Black metal influence can be heard on guitar work and vocals. Fast high pitched riffing is a big part of Sternenstaub's method to sound cold, but when used, it sounds too thin making me yearn for meatier sound. But there's also heavier riffing providing the meat so to speak, and indeed very good and memorable solos and leads. Second guitar is played by Golden Dawn member Vocals are mostly throat ripping shrieking, which sounds actually positively, well, throat ripping! Some classical singing and clean vocals is heard, both okay, plus some effected ones. Every song has its "thing", a meaning, so musically the album isn't lacking of contents.

While compositions sometimes take a step or two into more adventurous fields of music, synths aren't. And same goes to sound. While being clear and just heavy enough, there's not much feel of dark cosmic forces here. Yes, it is unimaginative. Flat, powerless snare drum sound gets buried in faster beats. As mentioned, this is musically good, so ability to raise music prior to sound is needed.

The album begins with what I think is the weakest song, maybe because of those synths. However, every song betters the previous one up to 'Frozen Tears', which is the masterpiece of this album. As the remaining two are good songs, this is another good debut album. This is a nice addition, if not very cosmic or dark, to any dark metal fan's record collection. While lacking of truly adventurous spirit, the next one will show if Sternenstaub can rise to cosmic infinity or not.

Rating: 7- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
04/06/2004 16:03