For me Star.Gate for years now have been on the list of those bands that the purchase of every new release is a given even if I haven’t heard a single note from it. Such is the level of our friends from Thessaloniki that I was absolutely convinced when I started listening to “Escaping The Illusion” that I was dealing with another excellent work.
And I wasn’t wrong at all. If anything, the album is not only excellent but I firmly believe that it is the best in their career so far! The all-star act from the North puts the glasses on the majority of super star bands worldwide with this one.
The eight new compositions presented are a mixture of neoclassical metal with a good dose of progressive touches. This album is a wet dream for the fan of the sound. It is really impossible for me to pick out any composition since all of them are excellent. What can I say about the choruses of tracks like the opener “Hiding All The Tears” or “Life Is An Illusion”? Not of course that the others go backwards! About the gorgeous “Outcast” or the more progressive “Wounded Soul”? Talk about an album that can be heard over and over again!
But beyond the eight compositions we have five more. Two acoustic versions of “Christmas Night” from their previous album and “Life Is An Illusion” which are beautiful but also three short instrumentals with only Kostas’ bass.
“Escaping The Illusion” is one of those albums that wins you over from the first moment and never disappoints you. I wonder how many new works I can say the same thing about…
So, a stellar playing from the whole group. Now they are all tied together like a fist, well of course Kostas has gathered the cream of the crop of the scene in the band, they present an album that easily puts itself in the running for one of the best of the year.
