Astronoid – “Stargod”

Astronoid have changed, taking the explosive energy that propelled them early on and palming it in their hands with utmost control and feeling.

Release date: November 7, 2025 | 3DOT Recordings | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Stream/Purchase

This year, I bought a digipak CD of Astronoid‘s magnificent debut album, Air. Probably not a big deal for most people, but with limited disposable income, it takes a lot for me to devote pretty much any kind of money to physical media like that. I got it straight from Blood Music, the now-defunct label that the album was released through, during one of the few liquidating, all-things-must-go sales for fans over the years. It’s a cherished album, a prerequisite for me to own it since I can scarcely afford to, defying all definition and eclipsing nearly all other albums from that year in power and precision.

Their self-titled album came out in 2019 and while I gave a glowing review to it at the time, it had nowhere near the staying power Air did. Still, not many people were doing it like they were back then and there’s value in being a one-of-one. 2022’s Radiant Bloom came and went for me, only listening to it myself in preparation for this review so I could get my bearings and context as to where the band’s been and where they are now. My pal Dylan reviewed it and liked it plenty – I think it’s pretty good as well from one listen, but I can see the wear starting to show. While the building blocks were there, it didn’t, in my humble-ass opinion, push Astronoid into farther expanses. How can Stargod turn things around to avoid a dive back into the atmosphere?

I don’t know if it’s just this album or not, but there’s one thing I noticed about Stargod almost immediately: there’s a more pronounced rock, almost heavy metal melody focus this time around. While Astronoid have always been melodic and massively catchy at their best, something’s different here. I can hear these certain approaches or treads in some of the guitar work that remind me of Coheed and Cambria at some points and a band like Sonja at others (doubly so when you account for Brett Boland’s vocals’ lighter timbre which sounds like Melissa Moore’s). Astronoid haven’t simply become imposters though – their keen mixture of all of this and much more is what gives it all identity.

For a band who call(ed) themselves ‘dream thrash’, there’s not much thrashing to be found here, opting for a more well-rounded pace and tonality overall. It’s far from filed-down though – there’s edges here that you’d expect like a ripping black metal-esque intro to the album or buried in the trenches of “Dream Protocol”. There’s a tenseness to it as well with Stargod being a collected journey through space, but it’s conveyed not through dread or pressure, more so atmosphere baked in synthesizers and tight riffs. No better example exists on the album than the single “Love Weapon” which is honestly up there with Air‘s “Up & Atom” as one of their best and most catchy songs yet.

The other single, “Third Shot”, is where shit starts to get interesting though, falling back on a more evened tempo and conventional rock attitude that’s melodic and driving before anything else. This is a modality that wouldn’t be out of place for most other bands, but it falling under the Astronoid name is something noteworthy. It persists too – “Explosive” really capitalizes on the space atmo with synths painting swaths of starry light across the track as the band settle into their calmer mood well by this point. “Dream Protocol” gets you nodding your head again with stomping rhythms and guitar solos that aren’t too flashy, but certainly make an impression. With this and more on Stargod, it has an almost arena rock feel to it with how songs are structured overall and how guitars are specifically written and performed. It’s old, but new in this context.

I guess a lot of the adrenaline Astronoid had coming out has subsided. Songs are shorter overall, but not punchier, they’re glittery and colorfully nebulous. The intensity is toned down to fit more earnestness and nuance in how they tie together elements. In some ways, it just feels like maturing, curbing your extremities and reeling them in to show a more well-rounded individual, approachable in ways unavailable until now. Even if we like the Astronoid from the past more, and I imagine many will, we can, hopefully, still feel good that the band have grown into something they’re more proud of and can better express what they need to through these avenues.

Gazing at my CD of Air and then looking at Stargod, it’s tempting to say ‘you’ve changed‘ with an air (ha?) of incredulity and maybe a tinge of disappointment, but I’ve changed too. Going on ten years since that wonderful debut album, Astronoid and I are doing big things, not the least among them persevering through it all. I’m sure some people would miss the old me too, but I don’t wish to go back just as I’m sure Astronoid are fully comfortable with who they’ve become. Growth and change are respectable and the only prerequisites for being seen as profoundly human and good. And hey, at least the band got a cool new logo to go along with this new era of theirs – I still spell and write my name the same as I did 30 years ago, just a little cleaner and more confident. Maybe that’s all that matters. Despite everything, we’re still ourselves.

‘It’s been so long
Life explodes
I can rearrange what I create‘