Asterise – Twilight Opera

Asterise
Twilight Opera
Label: Inverse Records
Out: 16^th January 2026
Playing time: 24:33

One could argue whether Asterise is a band or a project. I feel the same way about projects such as Avantasia or Ayreon. Even though they all have a relatively stable core line-up, there are many changes among the other members. So, I’ll say it again: Asterise is a project! This is consistent with the fact that only guitarist and bassist Bartlomiej Mezynski is pictured on the accompanying ‘band photo’. After the two albums ‘Two Worlds’ (2022) and ‘Tale Of A Wandering Soul’ (2024), the EP ‘Twilight Opera’ now follows with four songs.

The title track, ‘Twilight Opera’, starts with keyboard and string carpets. Then the guitars and drums kick in. The vocals sound a little scratchy at first. But then they become powerful and very catchy. The longest song on the EP is very varied and rightly gives the EP its name. It is crowned by a strong guitar solo. ‘Eclipse’ really rocks right from the start. Here, too, the hard riffs are underpinned by keyboard layers. The vocals are a little quieter. ‘Hope’ is a quiet ballad. The vocals are initially accompanied by clear guitar chords and strings. Later, quiet drumming kicks in to match, and the strings push themselves more and more into the foreground. In the middle, there is a huge guitar solo. Only at the very end does the ballad-like section come to an end. After a quiet intro, ‘On My Way to Heaven’ is dominated by hard riffs. A powerful mid-tempo anthem. With a strong bass line, wavering Hammond organ and another filigree guitar solo.

On ‘Twilight Opera’, Asterise perform at a similarly high level as on ‘Tale Of A Wandering Soul’. On the promo photo, mastermind Bartlomiej Mezynski can be seen wearing an Avantasia T-shirt. And this influence shines through time and again. Asterise are well on their way to catching up with the aforementioned genre greats.

Asterise – Twilight Opera: https://youtu.be/fNEUh58Yn8M?si=oCdQMy3zZtRudaNQ

Lineup:

Bartlomiej Mezynski – Guitars, Bass
Ariel Perchuk – Keyboards
Slawomir Siwak – Drums
Mike Livas – Vocals
Arnaud Menard – Vocals
Luigi Soranno – Vocals
Sozos Michael – Vocals
Małgorzata Kilar – Guest Violin solo

Track list:

• Twilight Opera
• Eclipse
• Hope
• On My Way to Heaven