GALAXY “On The Shore of Life”

By Dr. Abner Mality

This is one of the hardest reviews I’ve had to write in a while. Australia’s GALAXY have quite a bit going for them...on the surface. They play an excellent mixture of classic NWOBHM and early speed metal, with generally well constructed songs full of interesting riffs. The subject matter seems to be sci-fi related. And most impressive of all, they have acquired the drumming services of none other than Simon Phillips...yes, the same Simon Phillips who played on JUDAS PRIEST’s “Sin After Sin” and who has also sat in with MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP and even THE WHO!

All of those elements coalesce very well on “On the Shore of Life”. And all of them are completely undone by the horrendous lead vocals of Phillip T. King. It’s hard for me to be so negative when the rest of the band does an outstanding job, but this guy’s tone-deaf singing is flatter than a snake run over by a cement truck. At its very, very best, King’s voice is completely average. At it’s worst, it enters the realm of parody. His attempts at a high falsetto would make my dog’s balls drop off. Tracks like “Bright Stars”, “Gemini” and “Firelight Palaver” are great...until King opens his mouth and works his “reverse magic”. I ran some tracks past other ears, just to make sure it wasn’t me. One started laughing right away, while the other could barely speak.

If GALAXY has enough nerve to bite the bullet, and get the singer they really deserve, they can really get somewhere in the metal business. But with what they’ve got now, there is no hope. Sad but true.

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS

GALAXY