SEVEN SISTERS

As the metal mainstream continues to push the latest day-glo, pop-metal horrors, it is time to focus on something completely different and utterly refreshing. SEVEN SISTERS have been building a formidable reputation among fans of old-school and melodic metal over the last decade, with music that satisfies all possible, classic metal demands while also being self-evidently forward-thinking and cliché-free. The band's third album, 2021's "Shadow Of A Fallen Star", has been widely lauded by those with impeccable taste. This, as most people can probably work out, is the sequel. This time, SEVEN SISTERS are heading into prog metal orbit.

A sci-fi fantasy brought to glittering life, with as much bombast and melodic sophistication as possible, "Shadow Of A Fallen Star Pt. 2" represents a wholehearted plunge into prog metal territory. The track listing tells its own story: four tracks, the last of which is a 20-plus minute epic, and the most flagrant display of ambition that SEVEN SISTERS have given to date, it also bookends the opening track of "…Pt. 1", "Andromeda Rising". It is all perfectly paced and planned to suit a vinyl release, which is admirable enough in itself, but even more impressive and gratifying when the music is as drop-dead stunning as this.

"Astral Prophecies" is the ideal window into SEVEN SISTERS' subtly distinctive sound. A furious, pedal-to-the-metal romp, with cascading, twin-leads and a clear-eyed, classy vocal from frontman Kyle McNeill, it neatly encapsulates the band's blending of ultra-shiny, AOR-tinged power metal and more cerebral, volubly progressive strains of melodic heaviness. Some might say that it sounds a little like IRON MAIDEN, but the resemblance is largely superficial and frequently dispelled by the musical choices that SEVEN SISTERS make. Another song awash with harmonized guitars, "Solar Winds" is a melodic tour-de-force that owes plenty to the old school without being limited by it as a result. The spirit of the '80s is alive and well, but as the song meanders through hazy, progged-out landscapes, on its way to a suitably victorious denouement, the ethos behind this whole enterprise comes clear. "Shadow Of A Fallen Star Pt. 2" is both a salute to the past, and a reimagining of its finest moments for the here and now. The lyrics — all spaced-out, cosmic wisdom and tall, cautionary tales — are elegant and absorbing, in true prog fashion, but there is nothing overtly old-fashioned about songs like "Heart Of The Sun", which closes side one (I trust you are all listening along on your gramophones!) with an indulgent squall of riffs, synths and jolting double-kicks.

This is timeless and triumphant heavy metal. Filling up the second side of the rather snazzy blue vinyl edition, "Andromeda Descending (A Fallen Star Rises)" is a heavyweight, long-form, progressive metal odyssey that has greedily consumed everything from MAIDEN's "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" to RUSH's "2112" and produced a meticulously plotted extravagance to rival its inspirations. Again, McNeill's unfussy vocals are a compelling focal point, as SEVEN SISTERS rattle through a remarkable repertoire of moods and textures, from gritty riffing that borders on thrash, and delirious, extended, instrumental passages, to abrupt, percussive interstitials, dreamy oases of calm, and barrages of melody so persistent and pervasive that it promises to be highly addictive, particularly for those who wear their old-school colors with pride, but don't mind having their minds blown. "Shadow Of A Fallen Star Pt. 2" is a magnificent anomaly, and SEVEN SISTERS are very fucking cool indeed.