Ostara – Age Of Empire (Album – Trisol)
Genre/Influences: Neo-Folk, Chanson, Ballad.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: British Ostara has been active for more than twenty years and this year strikes back with their ninth full length album to date. Richard ‘Leviathan’ remains the single core member and driven force behind the project.
Content: Ostara moves on composing a kind of ‘good-feeling’ Neo-Folk music featuring a few more influences for the ride. There’s also a touch of Rock music, Chanson and Ballad style running through the songs.
+ + + : Ostara mixes different influences together so in the end it becomes a sweet, happy-sounding, and especially atypical Neo-Folk style. The lyrics are sometimes pretty engaged although the music remains easy and happy-like carried by passionate vocals. The choruses are quite catchy. I like “Troubadour Of Doom” which reminds me a bit of The Housemartins. Another recommended song is the Ballad-like “Germania”.
– – – : The songs remain pretty short while some pieces are maybe missing a bit more energy.
Conclusion: Ostara has something special which is hard to describe but easy to listen to.
Best songs: “Troubadour Of Doom”, “Germania”, “The Purge”, “Age Of Empire”.
Rate: 7.
Artist: www.ostara.net / www.facebook.com/ostaramusic
Label: www.trisol.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Trisol-Music-Group/104166526285471
About Ostara
Ostara is a British folk-pop and neofolk group founded in 1991 by Richard Leviathan (born Richard Levy) and Timothy Jenn as a change of name and direction from their earlier band Strength Through Joy. Jenn left in 2001. Guitarist Stu Mason, drummer Tim Desmond, and bassist Dave Renwick, formerly of Bronski Beat and the Communards, departed in 2010 as work began on a new album, leaving Leviathan as the band’s sole member. Finnish musician Kari Hatakka of Waltari has contributed synthesizers to some Ostara tracks.
Ostara’s album discography includes “Secret Homeland” (2000), “Kingdom Gone” (2002), “Ultima Thule” (2003), “Immaculate Destruction” (2005), “The Only Solace” (2009), “Paradise Down South” (2014), “Napoleonic Blues” (2017), and “Eclipse of the West” (2020). “Age Of Empire”, released via Trisol, is Ostara’s ninth studio album.
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