Well, here it is, the number 1 US-metal album of the year 2009. Yes, it is that good. After their impressive debut The last of my kind (2006), Los Angeles’ own Crescent Shield have now seriously raised the bar with The stars of never seen. Co-written and co-produced by guitarist Dan DeLucie (ex-New Eden/-Destiny’s End) and former Onward-/Cypher Seer-vocalist Michael Grant, the nine tracks on this journey-themed album are all gems in themselves. Engineered by none other than Bill Metoyer (who, you die-hards out there will no doubt recall, engineered genre milestones like Awaken the guardian by Fates Warning and Helstar’s A distant thunder), the thinking man’s/woman’s metal on display here simply shines in every glorious detail. Crescent Shield’s music is firmly rooted in the tradition of the aforementioned bands, with shades of vintage Iron Maiden shining through.

You like your US-metal a slight bit technical without the songs becoming artificially progressive? Then you’ll love a track like ‘Temple of the empty’, with its daring melody structures, sparkling mandolin intermezzo and melancholy guitar outro. And oh you will definitely dig the nine-minute epic ‘The Endurance’. This longest Crescent Shield number to date has a great build-up, crescendo and ending – it’s a CinemaScope movie in metal, if you will. Lyrics are suitably epic and based on Ernest Shackleton’s highly dramatic third Antarctic expedition in 1914-‘16. The song’s title refers to the ship with which the intrepid explorer became trapped in the ice, its name ‘The Endurance’ mirroring the crew’s tenacity and will to survive.
You like your US-metal served straight up, without losing the technical edge and melodies? Then you’ll rejoice upon hearing the howling fury of ‘My anger’ (starring DeLucie as the evil Dr. von Riffenstein). You’ll bang your head to the upbeat firecracker that is the closing track ‘Lifespan’. And if the fantastic opening ceremony of ‘Under cover of shadows’ hadn’t already convinced you that this band is all about old fashioned songwriting excellence, then the second track ‘The grand horizon’ will pull you in. This is a highlight among highlights, a tightly arranged piece of US-metal with high-speed parts, Grant’s soaring vocals and a load of nifty details to discover along the way. With its space exploration-inspired lyrics and energy-laden craftsmanship, ‘The grand horizon’ is an instant classic.

Another brilliant example of how to compose, arrange and perform a memorable piece of heavy metal music is ‘Tides of fire’. It was written in its entirety by DeLucie, who based his lyrics on the classic post-apocalyptic novel A canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. With its melancholy intro, subtly evolving vocal melodies and - dare I use the dreaded G-word? - groovy rhythm, ‘Tides of fire’ ranks among the best that US-metal has to offer.
Despite DeLucie and Grant being the sole authors of Crescent Shield’s material, The stars of never seen is well and truly a group effort. Melanie Sisneros (bass) and Craig Anderson (drums) are excellent instrumentalists in their own right, and thanks to the crisp quality of Metoyer’s mix, you can hear these two musicians clearly bringing drive, colour and detail to the proceedings. That Sisneros’ playing of the (five-string) bass is Steve Harris-influenced is no secret, and she does her hero justice indeed. She’s got that typical high-octane stuff down to a science. And those who have seen the band perform live at the tenth Keep It True festival in april 2008 know what an eerily tight drummer Anderson is. See him hit the cymbals one instant, silence them a split-second after and another lightning bolt moment later speed on without losing even a bit of tempo. Metal to the bone.

As was already evident on The last of my kind – remember the poetic ‘Rise of the red crescent moon’ – Crescent Shield have a life-affirming quality to them, something sadly not too common in our day and age, where emphasis in art is often laid on negative currents in society and thinking. Melancholy is a clearly different sentiment than cynicism, and main lyricist Grant knows well how to distinguish between the two. It is a statement in itself that The stars of never seen ends with ‘Lifespan’. In his lyrics, confirmed atheist Grant talks about the illusion of an afterlife, something that lies at the basis of all religions. The idea of an hereafter is counterpointed with the firm belief that every individual is responsible for his/her own actions in the here and now. There is no superior being as deus ex machina, no rebirth to correct mistakes made, no profit from knowledge gained in an earlier existence. At the same time the writing summarizes the band’s healthy attitude: carpe diem. You get no second chance, so live life to the fullest.

‘End to an end is our own lifespan
Our only one since time began
Shattering glass and the pattern it holds
No other life can repeat my soul’

Once again, The stars of never seen is fittingly packaged in an unusual wraparound cover, courtesy of comic book artist Gerry Alanguilan, responsible also for the artwork of the band’s firstborn The last of my kind. Its moodily atmospheric imagery suits the music and lyrics to perfection. Layout for the booklet was done by Travis Smith, as was the case with the debut, so understated elegance is the key factor here. Good idea as well to have the nighttime sky background of Alanguilan’s main image printed on the disc itself.
As the limited first run of the CD comes with a bonus-DVD of the Keep It True gig (which marked the band’s European live premiere), you’ve got an additional incentive to treat yourself to this splendid album. Crescent Shield’s The stars of never seen, alongside The longest night from Pharaoh, now stands as a crown jewel in the catalogue of Italy’s fine underground metal label Cruz del Sur Music. It is also one of those rare works that you will still give a spin in ten, twenty years time, when 98 percent of 2009’s albums, bands and fads will have sunk into well-deserved oblivion. Classic, powerful US-metal from a gifted four-piece who pour their heart and soul into every single note they play - what more could you, the discerning metal listener, possibly want?