Lost

PowerPlay magazine -
Oh you splendid, splendid people. This is bloody good. Scottish brothers Tony and Leen enlisted French vocalist Olivier and Italian guitarist Giuseppe a few years ago and brought the world an EP, but this first full length album is in a class of its own. Intricate, complicated rhythms and unpredictable riffs crash around the listener throughout, while Olivier's voice (powerful and clear with occasional touches of Udo Dirkschneider) gives their music a unique edge. Although it's a concept album, "Fragments" is wonderfully accessible. The mindblowing guitar playing on "The Sleepless Man's Conscious Dream" alone is enough to sell this album, but every track is a winner. Beautiful progressive melodies intertwine with chunky metal, finger-blurring lead work and enough time changes to make your head spin, but the band have got the mix of those elements right on the money. "Betrayed By Blood" is another mind-bending gem of a song, while later there's the majestic neoclassical progressive metal sprawl of "Perception Of The I" to get your listening gear around. On every level this album is a winner. It's not perfect, but these lads are hurtling perilously close to full marks.

Musea records -
Scotland’s new blend and offering on the progressive metal scene: Abandoned Stars. “Fragments”, a concept album based on the fate of a man’s desolation, a family tragedy and the dilemna we refer to as human condition, all set to the bands most ambitious, musically rich and vocally accomplished release to date. “Fragments” is much more diverse than the band’s first EP, while staying true to the progressive metal sound of intricate musical segments and compositions loaded with melodies; there are new twists and turns, an even stronger band tightness from playing countless gigs since the release of their 2011 EP “Opening Act” all of which is brought together by a super powerful production.

Sea of Tranquility -
Have you heard the one about a Frenchman, an Italian and two Scots? No? Thankfully the punchline's worth the wait! Having released their debut EP, Opening Act a little over a year ago, Abandoned Stars have decided to make haste and hit hard with their first full length effort, Fragments. The approach is the same, yet different, with Progressive Metal still the order of the day, yet the commercial gloss of before is absent, a more technical side coming to take its place. On those terms, the quartet are more than a match for their chosen style, Scottish brothers Tony Hodge (drums) and Leen (bass) a myriad of time shifts, tempo moves and atmospherical alterations, while Italian guitarist Peppe Schiavone is utterly convincing whether juddering into motion through gigantic riffs, as he does on "The Sleepless Man's Conscious Dream", or setting his fretboard alight, as on "Betrayed By Blood". The album is split into three sections, The Sleepless Man, Fallen Apart and The Monster You Created, the mood ebbing and flowing across a selection where the story told is as apparent through the music, as it is the lyrics. In fact if there's one true strength of Abandoned Stars, then it is that they still have the ability to engage even when attacking things from a seriously technical side. Beauty though isn't eschewed, "Fracture" a journey through Floyd like bass lines and French spoken word, while "Too Close To You" is a fragile piano led journey where emotion is laid bare.

ProgMetalZone -
Progressive Metal (hard rocking Scottish band that has their prog roots down pat but also knows how to lay down some sick metal grooves.)