Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Space Unicorn On Fire
Label: Self-released
Release: year_month
Length: 50:53
Rating: 3.5/5
When a band called Space Unicorn on Fire popped up on the list of Slovenian metal bands a good four years ago, most people exchanged puzzled looks and shrugged. The band, born from the split of Kamnik heavy metallers Use Less, soon shut the doubters up, since its take on light-hearted, fun power metal quickly won over a wide and loyal fanbase. At the band’s traditional New Year’s concerts, a fair number of those fans even show up with horns on their heads.
Unicorns and a space theme have become the band’s trademark, and the long-awaited debut Gallop Through the Stars kicks off, how else, with a unicorn’s whinny and the clatter of hooves, after which Space Unicorn on Fire take the listener on a fifty-minute power metal trip with the occasional prog and in places even glam touches. If nothing else, Space Unicorn on Fire are a nice shake-up for the local metal scene, since the bands playing power metal can be counted on the fingers of one hand (Silent Pray and the now-defunct Divine Illusion come to mind first).
Still, Space Unicorn on Fire aren’t purebred power metal in the vein of Helloween or Gamma Ray. The longer instrumental passages and the guitar and keyboard solo excursions pull them genre-wise toward bands like Dream Theater and Symphony X, while the light, carefree nature, the goofiness, the specific humor and the scandalous lyrics bring them close to glam bands, so the comparison with American glam revivalists Steel Panther is entirely fitting. As far as the instrumental side goes, the band is, well, »on fire«. The guitar riffs are simple but catchy and memorable, and the duels between keyboard and guitar solos aren’t too frequent and never get excessive, though there’s no shortage of bombast, and in places it’s almost over the top. Rok »Tavta« Tavčar delivers a confident vocal performance, deftly slipping into the role of a singer of mischievous, naughty lyrics (»And I got so much tension in my balls / That I could paint her walls«, »Kje si bila ko sem te prej iskal, kar šamar bi ti dal«), even if the »sing along« oooooo parts are a few too many. But the choruses are as spectacular as supernova explosions, as contagious as Ebola, and made straight for live, onstage situations.
Space Unicorn on Fire will stick in some people’s throats because of their specific, cheerful humor, which isn’t for everyone (personally it’s not my thing, though it’s true I highly prize Devin Townsend’s off-the-wall humor about coffee- and cheeseburger-obsessed aliens, so go figure). The mostly not-so-serious lyrics about interstellar kittens, commanders who shoot lasers from their eyes (Commander) and the urge for sexual gratification (Mr. Romantic) get interrupted by the guys with more serious themes here and there, and that’s when they prove that behind the glitter, rainbows and pink hides a seasoned, mature band that can superbly channel life experience into music. In my personal opinion, Space Unicorn on Fire thus work best in the serious moments, such as August Blues and Ne vzame nihče, and most of all in the gripping, emotional ballad Blizu večnosti, where Tavta shines vocally, accompanied by grand piano and Ema Grčman’s cello.
Just over fifty minutes is almost too long a runtime for an album, and a heap of space anthems probably won’t satisfy more demanding listeners, but that was never the band’s goal anyway. Although the quality of the tracks on the nearly hour-long Gallop Through the Stars wavers a bit, anyone who likes singable, punchy, melodic, infectious and not-too-complicated power metal, perfect for a gallop for two, will perk up their ears at the album like a unicorn at a rainbow. Or as Space Unicorn on Fire would put it: »Ajde mala, zajaši!«
Lineup
Rok Tavčar – vocals
Matej Osredkar – guitar
Matjaž Ličar – keyboards
Grega Stamenovič – bass
Gorazd Ledinek – drums
Production
Matic Mlakar
Track list
1. Kozmodrom
2. Let’s Go to Space
3. Double Helix
4. Dreamers
5. Blizu večnosti
6. Shooting Star
7. Mr. Romantic
8. August Blues
9. Commander
10. Ne vzame nihče
11. Broken Loose
12. Medzvezdna mačkica
