Review – Starchild – Magic Well

Metalapolis Records ( December 8^th 2023 )

Reviewer:  Stephen Brophy

‘Magic Well‘ is the 4^th album release from Starchild who, should you not have heard them before are a really good four piece Power Metal outfit from Germany. Following up on 2022’s ‘Battle Of Eternity‘ they have wasted no time in getting new material out while the iron was hot and this new album really does strike the right notes.

With 12 tracks on offer this album has everything you could ask for, fret-board gymnastics a plenty from Sandro, especially on the excellent ‘Castles In The Sky’ that absolutely rips along in perfect harmony from guitars to drums to the very speedy vocal delivery by Sandro. Here and there on the album you do notice a similar vocal delivery style to a certain Mr. Dickinson, but that for me is where the comparison ends, and when you have as good a voice as Sandro has he uses the instrument in whatever way the song needs it. Tempo changes abound, and a lot of variety in the music and song style, but none of that interrupt how this album flows and runs. I’m still finding after living with it for some time that it plays through very quickly, and that’s because it’s really good.

With some George Lynchesque solos screaming out in unison with Sandro’s super vocals ‘At The End Of The Rainbow’ is an uplifting powerhouse of a song. As with everything else here I thing we find a band who are at the absolute peak of their game right now, musically they just smash everything, the guitars are both manic and fluid, vocals superb throughout, bass and drums pounding while at the same time providing the much needed rhythm, with Andi’s keyboards wrapping around everything, elevating where needed and accompanying in other places and lets not leave out the backing vocals as they add to the songs. Fingers are firmly crossed that I can get to see the band live somewhere.

One track is very different on this release and it’s a very personal song for Sandro as it’s written about, as the title says the loss of a friend. ‘I’ve Lost A Friend’ is a partly acoustic Ballad that elicits emotion and a depth of feeling where you can both empathise with his loss and remember perhaps some of your own.

Personally I keep coming back to both ‘Castles In The Sky’, the opener ‘War Isn’t Over Yet’ which is an absolute cracker to kick things off while also leading nicely into ‘Castles In The Sky’ and keeping the tempo high. Alongside those throw in ‘The Golden Train’ there is lots to choose from, the tracks that change the tempo are also very important like ‘Westernworld’ or ‘Violent Violin’ as they are very different while also working really well.

Overall the Power Metal genre has had some very big releases this year but this album is definitely one not to miss out on, there is so much to enjoy in ‘Magic Well‘ and Starchild have done an excellent job of adding more to their repertoire while not losing their identity, a lot of these tracks will sound great live so fingers crossed the band can get out as extensively as possible in 2024. Can’t wait to here the next batch of songs from this band, there is something a little different about them that clicks with what I like in Power Metal.

Tracklisting:

1 War Isn’t Over Yet

2 Castles In The Sky

3 Westernworld

4 Magic Well

5 Violent Violin

6 At The End Of The Rainbow

7 Letters Of Life

8 The Dragon Rises Up Again

9 I’ve Lost A Friend

10 The Golden Train

11 Cyber Punk

12 Later You’ll Know