Metal Underground.com

Score another win for Bakerteam Records: Rublood is a band that knows how to balance heavy and non-metallic elements to be both catchy and extreme at the same time. The goth side creates the atmosphere, the metal side makes for good head banging, and the dash of industrial adds an unexpected element to keep it all interesting. For those who like different genres mixing up in their metal, “Star Vampire” will definitely be an entertaining ride.

“Star Vampire” doesn’t mark the first time a band ever decided to throw dark, gothic atmosphere into the metal arena, but it is done with a solid mix of style and substance this time around. There’s energetic and electronic focused numbers like “True Blood,” charging heavy rockers like “Ignition,” and then tracks like “Rainfall” where the atmosphere gets kicked into high gear. The Transylvanian keyboards and heavy riffs giving way to psychedelic sound effects make the latter track an album highlight.

The lyrical content and themes are fairly straightforward, and it’s pretty obvious what’s on display with song titles like “Electro Starfuckers” and “Goth Love.” That may give some listeners pause if they prefer extreme to mainstream, but the only track that’s predominately pop over metal is “Negative Bride,” and even that’s still worth hearing.

So who is the target audience for Rublood’s latest full-length? Let me be clear: if you hated the way Nachtblut merged opposing genres you probably won’t like this either, but if a dose of both Rammstein and Depeche Mode in a heavy metal album seriously piques your interest, “Star Vampire” is easily a release to check out.