Review: Scardust – Strangers

Style: Progressive/Symphonic (clean vocals)
Review by: Matt
Country: Israel
Release date: October 30th, 2020

Who’s got two thumbs and loves Scardust? I lost my thumbs after missing the page view quota, but otherwise… Well, come to think of it, I don’t like the band that much either. Why did I write that?

Scardust has often been described as “Epica plus Dream Theater,” and it really is exactly that, including a double dose of cheese. Here’s a litmus test: If you were able to listen to The Astonishing without a sense of irony, go get this, because you’ll probably love it. Everyone in this band is on top of their game and plays a ton of notes, especially Yanai Avnet, who gets some Hibria-esque bass arpeggios to dazzle the senses. Noa Gruman is a fantastic singer, right up there with Floor Jansen or Brittney Slayes, and maybe beyond. She can do the operatic soprano parts, but I’ve rarely heard someone also display so much power and aggression. This is a band that has thoroughly mastered “Can I,” and, one hopes, will someday whittle it down to “Should I.”

I won’t say the songwriting is clumsy, but it is a lot to swallow. The composition reaches for the stars, alternately taking turns at melodeath, prog rock, jazz, folk, and pop, while covering everything with a big-budget orchestral veneer. The album isn’t bizarre to the degree of, say, Native Construct, but it is possibly trying to be too smart for its own good, with some spastic tonal shifts and a zillion key changes that give songs the feeling of just barely holding together until the chorus. There’s something a little irritating about how earnest Strangers is, not helped by the faux-insightful “people are isolated!” shtick, delivered with all the sincerity of showtunes. Don’t get me wrong, the album is kind of genius, but I’d still be embarrassed to play it in public. The ultimate moment of cringe came during “Gone,” whose verses are simultaneously as sickeningly saccharine as the worst pop song, and as frustratingly disjointed as the most stapled-on prog afterthought. While I listened to far worse things this year, the first minute of “Gone” is my most hated chunk of music for 2020.

Nevertheless, there’s a ton of talent on display here, and Scardust have done a better job than most at the “everything 1000% all the time” approach. If you like your prog with a side of wank, you might as well check them out now, because I imagine they’ll be A Big Deal™ in the next few years. The signs are all there, including me being lukewarm on them… Strangers we are, indeed.

Recommended tracks: Addicted, Huts
Recommended for fans of: Epica, Dream Theater, Seventh Wonder, Ayreon
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: M-Theory Audio – Bandcamp | Facebook

Scardust is:
– Noa Gruman (vocals)
– Yadin Moyal (guitars)
– Yoav Weinberg (drums)
– Yanai Avnet (bass)
– Itai Portugaly (keyboards)