The hiatus has been beneficial for As Bright As The Stars.
Led since 2019, the year it released its first split with fellow Indonesian band Lament, by Indonesian musician Bangoen (Corpsified, Dusk in Silence, Inverted), the project unveiled its debut album, Celestial Ascension, in 2026 with the support of label Flowing Downward.
A Lost Shadow gently draws us into the musician’s world, starting off fairly calm and misty before unleashing its very dark and resonant shoegaze roots like a downpour, subsequently welcoming ethereal vocal parts that reinforce the ambient tranquility. Aggression gradually gains ground, however, corrupting the darkness to incorporate blast beats and terrifying screams, before a more minimalist interlude gives us a moment to catch our breath only to overwhelm us once more as we transition into Twilight Grey, a track that immediately feels more imposing while retaining its ethereal quality. Harmonies and rhythm blend perfectly to captivate us while the clean vocals fade into the background, offering another element to help us escape until the drums take over, signaling the transition to the fierce Void of Light. The track starts off at a brisk pace and washes over us, then calms down a bit, evoking distant cries, but even the gentlest moments are just waiting to explode, which they do brilliantly, carrying us ever further into this dreamlike landscape before the keyboards herald Untouched, the next composition with its minimalist introduction. But once again, the calm doesn’t last, replaced by that relentless storm of slightly dissonant riffs that pause briefly only to resume with the vocals, but the track passes more quickly than the others, also making room for some clean vocals before building to a fierce final, followed by Eyes of Dawn, which in turn envelops us in a curtain of sounds, each more volatile than the last. Once again, the Post elements maximize the intensity of Black’s most aggressive elements, and once again the torrent carries us from one to the next with grace and elegance, before giving way to Crystal Light and its intriguing, luminous touches that stand out amidst the darker, more jagged sections. The track cuts off abruptly, granting us a moment’s respite, then kicks off again in full force with the blast, and finally leads into the title track, Celestial Ascension, which, though the shortest of the seven tracks, closes out the album while reminding us just how much its sounds can shift from total tranquility to visceral intensity in the blink of an eye before fading away.
Although the project has been quiet for quite some time, As Bright As The Stars is back in top form to unveil Celestial Ascension, a powerful and gripping album, just the way we like them. Some tracks are a true invitation to a dreamlike journey when you close your eyes…
90/100
