Jack Starr's Burning Starr
Defiance

July 2010
Released: 2009, Magic Circle Music
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Robert Williams

Heavy metal veteran Jack Starr rekindles the fire that was and now once again is Burning Starr on DEFIANCE, the first new Burning Starr record in twenty years. The former Virgin Steele lead guitarist and longtime bassist Ned Meloni have sought out a new vocalist for Burning Starr in Todd Michael Hall who has a melodic mid-range approach to his pipes.



DEFIANCE begins with the riff happy "Ancient Ones" a sword and shield swashbuckler that really sets the tone for this album's tales of kings of old and chalices of gold and fighting till the death. "The Black Clouds Of Thanos" is the album's most epic track clocking in at just a little under ten minutes. This is an excellent traditional metal song with some really fantastic guitar solos from Jack and a particularly wicked verse riff. "The King Must Die" is a classic speed metal ass kicker and has a really infectious chorus that at times reminds me a bit of the folk metal vocal approach of Falconer. Rainbow's timeless "Catch The Rainbow" is done proper justice by Jack and company and is an excellent choice for a cover tune. This stays pretty faithful to the original and Jack really lays down some shredding yet tasteful soloing. "The Beast Inside" is slow and super heavy and distorted, it's nice that DEFIANCE has so much variety in tempo and feel as this song is pretty different to all of the album's other tracks. DEFIANCE comes to a close with a live rendition one of Burning Starr's earlier hit's "Evil Never Sleeps" taken from the "No Turning Back" album. This energetic live track was recorded at the 2008 Magic Circle Festival and is a nice added bonus.



It's great to have a new Burning Starr CD to add to the collection as you can always count on Jack Starr to deliver quality traditional metal. I'll definitely be looking forward to the follow up.