REVIEW: Starbenders - The Beast Goes On

A wicked rock 'n' roll blizzard is coming your way. Atlanta quartet STARBENDERS have a beast of a record ready to unleash. The stunning The Beast Goes On arrives three years after their critically acclaimed record Take Back the Night, and it exhales themes of love, loss and reinvention woven through. Sonically sharp, unique and pure STARBENDERS at its core, the band bring their witchy, glam-soaked world to its most fully realised form yet.

The record blends the glamorous decay and excess of 80s glam rock with something grungier, grittier and rawer underneath; the band composed by vocalist KIMI SHELTER, bassist AARON LECESNE and guitarist KRISS TOKAJI, now take new drummer QI WEI under their wing, feeding on each other's musicality to renew their vows to rock and roll.

STARBENDERS have always taken creative risks as a foundation, and this record is where those risks pay off most fully. The Beast Goes On is the statement of a broad colour palette that pushes the boundaries of creativity and builds a world entirely its own: glorious, fierceful, and uncompromising. It doesn't hold back.

Setting the scenario, the title track opens the record with a harmonic organ and KIMI

SHELTER's choral voice: "I love the way you make me hate you / Penetrate you and drink your blood", before the band breaks in with the dramatic force that introduces the album and prepares you for what's about to hit. One of the strongest tracks of the record. From there, the album never lets up, each track a new shade of the same vivid, untamed world.

Immediately followed by Nothing Ever Changes, a classic rock anthem with upbeat energy. The guitar takes over as the stellar protagonist, alongside the angry, courageous vocals. Energetic bass and drums bring an animalistic charge that invites the listener to let their hair down and jump about.

Keeping up the pace, Chantilly Boy comes in to keep your feet off the floor. QI WEI is the star of this one on the drums, marking the rhythm with real authority while SHELTER's voice shows its full range, the rawness of the verses melting into poppy softness for the chorus.

Cold like its title, Cold Silver is a dreamy ode to nostalgia, a longing for a happiness that never quite existed. Moody 90s grunge comes out from the vault and runs rampant through the track. As a juxtaposition, Forever Mine follows: a heavier, optimistic, feel-good anthem. The bass drives this one with a confidence that anchors the whole track, laying the groundwork before it opens up into a gloriously audacious breakdown and a glam guitar solo that fades out on a high.

Other tracks like Hello, Goodbye carry that thread beautifully, balancing the longing of Cold Silver and the warmth of Forever Mine without losing the edge that runs through this record.

Tokyo, the first single released back in 2024, deserves an ovation of its own. A story of extraterrestrials arriving in the city at night, trying to make sense of their surroundings, grounding themselves through music. "From the shadows on the streets of Tokyo / I found God in the midnight hour on my radio." Combining undertones of KATE BUSH with the force of SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES, it is catchy, synth-driven, and irresistible.

Songs like Summon My Heart and Somebody Else remind you why this band are called STARBENDERS: defiant, glam-riffed, and built to fill the sky. Grand and heroic in equal measure. To Be Alright and June offer a softer counterpoint, metallic yet ballad-leaning, with a tenderness that earns its place among the heavier moments.

The Beast Goes On also makes space to honour two icons. Saturday, originally by ALL THE DAMN VAMPIRES ft. MINT SIMON, and BAD RELIGION's 21st Century Digital Boy both get the full STARBENDERS treatment: colourful, irreverent, and faithful to the spirit of the originals while making each one their own.

The Beast Goes On is a triumph. Ethereal at times, raw and gritty at others, and anthemic through and through. The production is stellar, the instrumentals victorious, and the whole thing captures exactly what STARBENDERS are: hotblooded and softly nostalgic all at once. This is a band morphing into their truest form, and it is euphoric to witness.

Score: 9/10

The Beast Goes On will be released on 27th February 2026 via Sumerian Records.

Words: Lorena Hurtado

Photos: Alec Weeks