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SPACE VACATION
White Hot Reflection

Pure Steel (2022)
Rating: 8/10

White Hot Reflection is the fifth full-length studio album from this San Francisco quartet. Admittedly, Space Vacation is not a band I’ve followed too closely, but I did enjoy their 2014 opus Cosmic Vanguard. It has been five years since the last outing, Lost In The Black Divide, so I was interested to see how the band has developed since.

As expected, this new release keeps up that glossy tone whereby each instrument is given time to breathe and showcase it’s own quality. Space Vacation plays very melodic metal that can often step into speedier climes while flirting with power metal aesthetics to the point of Euro-Goth tinges.

Opener ‘Reign In Hell’ sets the tone, striding effortlessly across cold wastes that seem far removed from Californian shores, but it’s mesmeric all the time whether in the fret work, the precision drumming or the soaring vocals.

From the off it’s clear that this combo, while appearing clinical at times, likes to dabble in fun metal, as exhibited with the infectious 80s stomp of ‘Iceberg’, the medieval jaunt of ‘Middle Ages’, the simmering glinting steel of ‘Don’t Say It’, and my two favourite numbers, ‘Being Evil’ with its simplistic tin pot drumming and airy dynamic and ‘Win The Night’ with its trundling bass and infectious hook.

Throughout this hour-long composition though the band is tight and efficient, adept as delivering contagious melodies emblazoned with New Wave Of British Heavy Metal styling (‘When Heroes Die’) and progressive flashes (‘Burn With Me’). And while seemingly simplistic on its surface, several listens in and I’m still discovering nifty changes, crafty melodies and metallic expressions to suggest this is a band forever evolving yet without alienating.

White Hot Reflection is well worth your time if you like energetic and versatile heavy metal.

Neil Arnold

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