STARGO – Violet Skies

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · March 3, 2026

Stargo is a stoner metal three-piece from Dortmund, Germany. They consist of Nordin on guitar and vocals, Stefan on bass and synths, and Karsten on drums. They have released four albums including: 2009’s Phonism, 2020’s Parasight, 2022’s Dammbruch EP, and their latest, 2026’s Violet Skies. Violet Skies was released on February 13th 2026 and contains eight tracks at forty three minutes long.

“Interstellar” makes a grandiose entrance with its crushing Mastadon-ian slaughter of stoner doom. Thick and massive walls of fuzz floats into a rhythmic galloping of guitars. Stargo’s sound dives right into vintage heavy metal with an Iron Maiden fury of ripping guitar harmonies, and soaring vocals. Stargo has a strong power metal appeal with devastating mosh riffs, and a proggy metal slaying. The second track, “Shine Like Diamonds” has a thrashy rhythm structure with cool harmonic accents. The vocals are catchy and the music is pretty straightforward metal done with a cosmic twist of heavy psych. Violet Skies has a very thick and pronounced heavy sound that drives these tracks with such ferocity. Stargo slightly tone things down with “Don’t Mind” but the musicianship is expressed even more and highlights their talents as a band. They are tight and the production of the recording is immense, making everything stand out with clarity and conviction.

“Left For Dead” has a cool funky vibe with clean guitars, bouncy bass lines, and solid percussion. Stargo understand musical dynamics perfectly, as each track on Violet Skies has its place in context to the whole record. The buildup on “Left For Dead” is absolutely amazing! This is a band that truly understands how excellent songs are written. The more mellow and melodious songs like the beginning of “The Artist” can expand into an epic metal orchestra of thrashing rhythms and headbanging honchos. The next track “Stargazer” is another heavy metal ripper that changes up the tempo and chugs out the rhythms. The chorus is hook-driven with the pause and sped up melodies and emotive vocals. Stargo has some nu metal components in their sound too and the heavy grooving and distorted thrashing is in full effect on this track.

“Tharis” might be my favorite song on the record, even though it has no singing on it. The music is on a new level with this ten minute masterpiece. It starts off with thick accents and fuzz driven rhythms. The sound then peaks into an epic melody of guitar harmonies and then clean passages of sonic solace. The changes are a progressive landscaping through hard driven metal and orchestrated doom. Midway through the song, the tone shift reveals some Tangerine Dream style/ “new age” and synthesized soundscapes that are absolutely captivating. “Tharis” is its own varied beast and musically darkens back to some heavier territory to complete the song. The final number, “The Great Machine” closes out a magnificent recording with a quick two minute rocker, that begins softer with strumming clean guitars and great singing vocals. The music cranks up the fuzz and obliterates on with stoner metal redemption. A stormy finale to an amazing release.

Stargo has a vise grip hold on classic heavy metal music with strong elements grounded in stoner, doom, atmospheric, heavy psych, and prog. The vocals are powerful and gel nicely with the heavy music and melodious structures. Violet Skies will appeal to many people into the heavy underground music scene, especially those with a soft spot for late eighties/ early nineties heavy metal.