Artist: Starkill
Title: “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (Single)
Label: Prosthetic Records
Release Date: 12/1/2017
Genre: Holiday/Heavy Metal
Rating: 5/5
At the time of this little summary, I think that I have managed to see the band Starkill about five times over the recent years. They’re always an exciting band in concert and good folks to talk to at their merchandise table after the set. They’re all engaging and appreciative of the interest shown in them. Recently, they added a fifth member to the lineup with a young lady name Sarah Lynn Collier joining as their vocalist but don’t worry, Parker Jameson is still handling some of that. The band has chosen to introduce her to their world of fans in this throttling version of the Christmas classic made famous by Mariah Carey with “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. If you think the idea of Starkill doing a Christmas song is a bit strange I suggest that you dig into the Twisted Sister, Misfits and Dropkick Murphys offerings before casting stones. So, what of this Christmas ditty by the Trans-Starkill Orchestra? Let’s discuss.
Sarah begins the song by herself with some bells, power riffs and a lot of drum flourish before the overall melody comes in. In addition to the guitars keeping in perfect sync with the vocal, the main verse has some thundering double bass under it and while I generally love that kind of stuff felt it might have been a tad over the top for this rendition. I love what drummer Spencer is doing at other parts of the tune more. The guitarwork by Jameson and Keathley is on point but I expected as much, and bassist Shawn helps hold it all together. Throughout the track, the guys help keep some nice backing vocal melodies and at the end of the day I must admit that I loved this and hence the perfect rating. It’s closing in on Christmas Time for many of us so perhaps I was feeling a little extra generous based on the strength of that last mug of eggnog. What I liked most was it showed how much fun the guys and girl in Starkill have playing music together and my hope is that they decide to offer up something like this once a year.
It’s safe to assume that if you like this band you should enjoy this as well and it’s been reported that Mariah herself has given the high horns about it too (not verifiable at all of course). As I close my thoughts on it all and double check that my letter to Santa has made it, I welcome you Sarah to a band that I’ve quite a bit of hopes for. Looking forward to seeing this one done live.
Track Listing:
1. All I Want For Christmas Is You
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/StarkillOfficial