Star One
Revel in Time

It is not often we see releases from Star One, one of many projects from Arjen Lucassen, but when we do, they are usually one of the highlights of the year. There has been two studio- and one live album before this one that is called Revel in time. It has a cover that looks a bit different from the other two, more like an Ayreon cover actually. The previous two cover kind of fit together as a concept with the Spaceship and planet on Space Metal and then Victims of the Modern Age where you could look at it as looking down on the earth from that spaceship. This album is about time travel movies and television shows, perhaps that is why the cover looks stylistically different. But that is not all that is different compared with the previous releases.

On Space Metal and Victims of the Modern Age there were more like a band with four singers in Damian Wilson, Russell Allen, Dan Swanö and Floor Jansen, all of whom appear on this album as well. Revel in Time has more singers, some known from working with Arjen before but also names like Joe Lynn Turner and Jeff Scott Soto, and there are some prominent guest instrumentalists as well. That gives us a difference in that the previous were scenes played out by the four singers while this album is mostly one singer telling the story, kind of like what we got on the Universal Migrator albums by Ayreon long ago. The style is less direct compared with the previous two Star One album that were heavier and less complex, but it is nowhere near as complex as the albums by Ayreon and it is a catchy album with lots of hit potential.

The production is excellent, with singers that impress all the way through. The style is familiar with synth styles we have heard from Arjen for a long time, and some other signature sounds, but it is also fresh and original. It is impressive how Arjen manages to remain fresh and relevant for each of his releases and this is no exception. It starts out brilliantly with Fate of Man, then the title track Revel in Time strikes me a bit later, and Today is Yesterday, in fact I soon feel that every track on this album is both great and memorable. It is an excellent album with no weaknesses, the only problem is that it is to be compared with what Ayreon and Star One, Guilt Machine, Arjen has done before and there are better albums in that catalogue, as some of the greatest albums ever made can be found there. It might lose out compared with some of the back catalogue stuff, but it is still by far the greatest release of 2022 so far.

I recommend checking out this one, fans of Arjen and his works will probably adore it, and I think it will appeal to most rock and metal fans out there – it is that great. And it comes on a great-looking vinyl which I bought together with the previous two that also came on vinyl this year and I think that was money well spent as the albums both look and sounds great. Don’t miss Revel in Time, it is another display of the magic that Arjen Anthony Lucassen is capable of creating.

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