Style: Progressive metal, synthwave (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Rolo Tomassi, Cloudkicker, Møl, Perturbator
Country: United States
Release date: 7 November 2025

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Like many, I discovered Astronoid with 2016’s Air. It was like being a kid in one of a plethora of ‘80s movies where the protagonist is yanked into another universe to fulfill some cosmic destiny—The Neverending Story, The Last Starfighter, take your pick. The ordinary world snapped open and revealed something that was heavy enough to shake the floor yet weightless enough to lift you off of it; shadowed at the edges yet luminous at the core; massive in sound yet impossibly hopeful in spirit. It was a portal into a post-metal world blasting me with sky-bright guitars and angelic falsetto harmonies, with a song title referencing a Simpsons episode to put a cherry on top. Air has been in constant rotation ever since.

Stargod continues a trajectory noted across their previous releases in that the metal edges are a bit less serrated, the falsettos sit a touch lower in the register, and the songwriting leans more straightforward than proggy. Yet the end result is quintessentially Astronoid. That indescribable glow at the heart of their sound is evergreen and everpresent, while an undeniable synthwave undercurrent distinguishes this release amongst their catalog. As a ‘90s kid who grew up on ‘80s cinema, Stargod is weaponized to appeal to me. But is this the triumphant return to the otherworld? Or the sequel where the magic doesn’t quite come back with the cast?

Simply stated, Stargod is full of synth-infused poppy ballads and rock bangers. Stripped-down songwriting rules the day here: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, chorus (for the most part). That’s not a knock. Though it may not lure the prog super nerds, the formula makes an efficient delivery vehicle for the album’s vocal and melodic hooks. Consider the title track: it’s strikingly straightforward, both in how it’s built and how it sounds. The drums lock into an unbroken rhythm with only a couple of minor fills in the latter half of the song, while the guitars and synths repeat a gentle, walking figure with almost meditative patience (albeit with a few lead lines and a ripping solo). Yet despite its simplicity the song is one of my favorites.

Not to worry, though, prog heads. If you liked the riffier Astronoid from Air and their early EPs, then “Love Weapon” has you covered. Its main riff is proggy, thrashy, and happy, but lets lead lines hover over it while driving the song forward in classic Astronoid form. “Explosive” is deceptively simple on the surface, but is comprised of an off-beat 6/8 rhythm that will dig its hooks into your brain. And that chorus? The descending melody is frisson inducing on its first pass through, where the band stays back and lets the synths and vocals take the spotlight momentarily. I can’t get it out of my mind.

That streamlined song structure does come back to bite the Stargod in the ass, though. “Didn’t I already hear this?” I asked myself a couple of times on my first few listens. Some thematic callbacks are intentional and effective—the bookend pairing of “Embark” and “Arrival,” for instance—but others feel more like recycled ideas. “Third Shot” and “Dream Protocol ‘88” share such similar rhythms and vocal melodies that they could pass for the same track, and they sit only one song apart. As a result, Stargod loses steam in its second half. On the occasions where I can’t listen to it from start to finish, I find myself starting the album over to listen to the first half again instead of picking up where I left off. Does this quirk doom the album? No. But I can’t picture the record on my year end list because of it.

Stargod doesn’t whisk me away like Air once did; the portal it opens is more familiar now in more ways than one. But the feeling at its center—that mix of weightlessness, wonder, and uplift—is still there. Stargod is undeniably different, but undeniably Astronoid, and a reminder that even a quieter call to a post-metal dreamscape is still worth answering.

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Recommended tracks: Stargod, Explosive, Love Weapon, Depressed Mode
You may also like: Joviac, Zatokrev, Genune
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Official Website | Facebook | Instagram

Label: 3Dot Recordings

Astronoid is:¹
– Casey Aylward (guitar)
– Brett Boland (guitar, vocals)
– Daniel Schwartz (bass, keyboards)

1. Founding drummer Matt St. Jean played on the album, but amicably parted ways with the group shortly before Stargod‘s release. ↩︎