Desert Near the End – "Of Fire and Stars": A metal album

Nothing gives me more joy than listening to new, strong offerings in the Greek Metal scene. One of these is "Of Fire and Stars" by "Desert Near the End". Demonic blast-beats, blazing riffs, raging solos and, of course, vocals that… make the neighbours' eardrums "bleed". Their new work is a proposition that fans of the Greek metal scene — and not only them — shouldn't ignore.

The Athenian Desert Near the End have been active on the domestic metal scene for over a decade, having already released 3 full-length works (considered a unified trilogy) and having shared the stage with big names such as the Irish Primordial.

In their 4^th full-length discography effort, then, which we're presenting here, the Desert Near the End appear settled and mature, dynamic and ambitious, presenting the strongest material of their career so far, material that at the same time serves as a soul-baring statement for the band itself.

A Power / Thrash Metal band

The Desert Near the End themselves call their style Power/Thrash Metal, and indeed that's not far from the truth. The band borrows as influence, on the one hand, the best moments of Iced Earth and Nevermore and, on the other hand, of Kreator and Testament, tying them together in a fitting way and presenting them through their own personal, solid sonic shell. The result is an excellent blend of Heavy/Power and Thrash. The Of Fire and Stars is an extremely well-crafted effort that does justice to those who made it.

The band doesn't hesitate to graft death and black metal passages onto the songwriting, which give some very nice and useful touches to the album. They also choose to go for a modern production that sounds fresh and contemporary and stands proudly alongside releases from the genre's biggest names.

The guys work with hunger and professionalism and that shows and sounds through in their work. So we unreservedly recommend Of Fire and Stars to all metalheads regardless of which branch of metal is their favourite, as well as to anyone who enjoys heavy sound with strong songwriting and beautiful melodies.

You can tell a good record from the very start!

The record opens with "A World Beyond", which for me is also the absolute highlight of the record. It doesn't waste a single minute and comes in raging with melodic riffs over galloping blast-beats! An instant save to my Spotify playlist!

Staying at the same high musical level, "The Call of the Stars" "calls" the stars closer and closer to us with its intricate riffs and (once again) dynamic drumming.

"Light Long Dead" unfolds a dark story and, in its 3:37 minutes, its dark riffs give us goosebumps!

One of the main characteristics of "Of Fire and Stars" is the abundant energy that the effort of "Desert…" produces. An energy that seems inexhaustible on "Across the Desert”, “Earth and Water" and "The Highest Hill". Don't be fooled by the… "laid-back" intro of "The Highest Hill", here for me it's fists flying in the "moshpit"!

"Throne of Martyrdom" comes to shake up a bit the (positive) monotony of the record with a bridge that's made for "sing-along".

An equally dynamic continuation

We arrive at "The Final Frontier", one of the tracks on the record with the most "replay value" for me, since it takes one or two "listens" to sink in. But once the listener gets the idea and "grasps" the more complex and elaborate musical themes, then they'll hit "save" on their Spotify playlist or "like" on "Youtube", no questions asked.

The title track "Of Fire and Stars" comes to close out this excellent record in the most beautiful way. For one last time, the blast-beats get their moment of glory, without however "blocking out" the rest of the instruments. The band gives it their all here, and that comes through crystal clear across the 6:55 minutes of the record's final track.

Behind the record

• Copyright © – Metal Scrap Records Inc.
• Distributed By – TWS-Source Of Deluge
• Distributed By – MVD Entertainment Group
• Recorded At – Incorporated M Studio
• Recorded At – Eventide Studios, Athens
• Engineered At – Incorporated M Studio
• Mixed At – Incorporated M Studio
• Mastered At – Viking Lounge Mastering Studio

A little something to close out with

I don't like at all putting bands into childish boxes, under the shadow of labels like "Death Metal" and "Black Metal", and luckily the guys fromDesert Near the Endgive me the chance not to. Quite simply, because they've managed to gather up plenty of great elements from various subgenres of metal in general and have married them together in an entirely their own way.

My humble opinion, then, is that you should invest your time in "Of Fire and Stars" and inDesert Near the End. All of their work is worthwhile and deserves your attention. We can't wait for the next journey to the stars!