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You know, sometimes I get a promo that I don't get into right away and think there's more to it, so I let it simmer for a while to see if it will do more for me later. Bound by Spells by Australia's Stargazer is one of those. This is avant-garde-ish/progressive black/death metal, so there are some harsher parts here and there, but overall it's kind of loaded with a lot of wankery (and I don't mean that in a bad way here), some very intricate guitar work that's actually pretty cool if you're in the right mood. The thing is, it's 18 minutes that come off sounding like inoffensive background music with nothing that really stands out. It's not bad per se, but it's rather uneventful for the average listener. Musicians, especially guitarists, are more likely to get a kick out of this EP. I found it kind of relaxing, but ultimately it's more like background music that I could just not pay attention to and the only reason I knew it was over was the silence. Stargazer obviously know how to play their instruments, but there's just nothing that grabbed me here. Your mileage may vary.