Review ASTRONOID ‘Radiant Bloom’

Boston-based Astronoid are wanderers between the poles. There are the boundaries of existence that act as a framing and there are the musical poles too. The quartet, that premiered in 2016 with ‚Air‘ add a new album to their discography that sounds really interesting.

Already the pastel colors of the artwork create attention in a rock and metal world with black being a dominant scheme. Musically the band uses the entire space between shoe-gaze and blackened metal. This is mainly valid for the instrumental aspect of their music while the very melodic and clean vocals of frontman Brett Boland act as the glue that keeps it all together.

It all starts with a synth-driven introduction to ‚Admin‘, the first song on ‚Radiant Bloom‘. It feels like a space journey that evolves to a dense post-rock song in which melodies and harmonies play an important role. I had to think of bands like The Smashing Pumpkins while listening to the opener which also have to do with the vocals.

Astronoid are creating soundscapes and they have the ability to combine them with heavier moments without compromising the overarching music idea. The first single is ‚Eyes‘. The song has been revealed prior to the album release and is a good ambassador for ‚Radiant Bloom‘. Warm guitars and very melodic vocals are the key elements while the pace changes in the drumming are adding variations to the pattern. The guitar solo, being another furious aspect, is brilliant and shows that Astronoid is more than sweet harmonies.

One of the heaviest tracks on the album is entitled ‚Sedative‘. Astronoid unveil the metallic aspect of their music that echos in the pace of the song. Faster than some of the other tunes and equipped with an intense drumbeat that is a blistering song with a high entertainment factor. ‚Orchid‘ follows a similar pattern and impresses throughout.

The grande finale of the album is called ‚Decades‘. It is a seven-minute masterpiece that ends the album with style. A cinematic sound and a lyrical theme about experiences and changes in life is what makes the closing track to a great piece of music. The song is about navigating through the good and bad of life and that is exactly what the band translates into a musical context. Words and notes are in excellent sync.

‚Radiant Bloom‘ is an album that has a lot of guitar power without lasering in the heavy riffs. Instead, the melodic and melancholic vocals, together with the dense and sometimes harsh sound, that is what makes ‚Radiant Bloom‘ special. Great music beyond the typical denim and leather approach.