Jack Starr – The Return of the Darkness

1. Out of the Darkness Part II marks a significant return to your solo career. What inspired you to create a sequel to your 1984 album, and how does it build on the legacy of the original?  

I thought a sequel would be cool as in the last few years I noticed that a lot of people really thought that OOTD 1 was a great album and they wanted more of the same and I thought it would be great to be able to deliver something of that caliber forty years later and I went about making that happen.

2. With such an impressive lineup of musicians, including Giles Lavery, Rhino, and guest appearances from Mark Zonder and Jimmy Waldo, how did you approach assembling the team for this project?   

I thought that it would be crucial for the success of the album to have no weak links and of course the foundation of any album for me is the drummer so getting Rhino was important but also getting great guest appearances like Mark Zonder who has a very progressive style reminiscent of Neil Peart and we have a song in that style on the album so it was a great fit to have him guest on it .It was also great having Giles LaVery sing on this as the recent Warlord and Alacatrazz albums gave abundant proof that he was one of the handful of new vocalists that really could deliver the goods much in the same way that Rhett Forester did forty years earlier on.

3. You’ve described the new album as “filled with power and glory” but also “melodic and passionate.” Can you share how you achieved this balance in the music and songwriting process?  

I grew up in France and we listen to a lot of romantic music some of it had made its way into my subconscious and it comes out and has to coexist with the other side of my musical which is tumultous and heavy. I try to blend both of these styles when I write music.

4. Reflecting on your journey from forming Virgin Steele to this latest release, how has your approach to creating music evolved over the years?

I think it really hasn’t changed very much except in one or maybe two ways , back then I really made some mistakes like for instance I would have a good riff but I might only repeat it twice, now I realize that people want to hear that riff a lot more than twice and I give it to them also I don’t worry that maybe a melody or riff might sound familiar because all that matters to me is does it sound good and sometimes its the embellishments and arrangements that give a song its sound also I let the song write itself I am not trying to make the song sound like anything I have heard before but if it does spark some comparisons I go with it, if tomorrow I write a song that gets compared to Stairway to Heaven I would be more than okay with that also I really think that I would not introduce two parts at once in a song like I have done in the past what I mean by that is that if a song comes in with a main theme like say Life of Crime by my old band Virgin Steele I would not play a solo over the opening riff because it makes the song too busy and confusing so the Jack Starr of 2025 has more restraint, the analogy I gave might be best understood if you take a song like Smoke on the Water when Blackmore comes in with that iconic riff, he lets it play without anything stepping on it, I think that it is better to let songs built without giving the listener too much too soon and also the Jack Starr of 2025 believes in the saying ‘Don’t disrupt the groove.”

5. You’ve worked with legendary musicians across various projects. What was it like collaborating with members of Warlord, Manowar, and Alcatrazz on this album?

At first I as apphrehensive that they would be very set in their ways and not open to suggestions but I was wrong. Even though all of the musicians on the album are super talented they also are willing to try out new ideas and go with them if they like them I thought that it would be crucial for the success of the album to have no weak links and of course the foundation of any album for me is the drummer so getting Rhino was important but also getting great guest appearances like Mark Zonder who has a very progressive style reminiscent of Neil Peart and we have a song in that style on the album so it was a great fit to have him guest on it. It was also great having Giles Lavery sing on this as the recent Warlord and Alacatrazz albums gave a bundant proof that he was one of the handful of new vocalists that really could deliver the goods much in the same way that Rhett Forester did forty years earlier. Also on the bass guitar I recruited a new bass player name Gene Cooper who had played in one of the top rock bands in NYC  and was part of the punk new wave power pop scene so that was very different for me collaborating with him but it worked out great and to top it all off meeting Thomas Mergler who is the owner of the studio in Germany and who really helped to develop the unique sound of the album.

6. Out of the Darkness Part II is set to release on BraveWords Records. What drew you to work with them, and how have they supported the vision for this album?

I had started working with Giles and he told me about this new label called Brave Words and I remembered reading the magazine years earlier and thinking how cool the magazine was and I thought it can’t be a bad label if they are connected to that iconic magazine so I went for it and yes it has been working out, so far so good I have a good feeling this album will be a success and there is a saying ‘nothing succeeds like success ” I aim to make that saying a reality.

7. The original Out of the Darkness was hailed as one of the best albums of 1984. What pressures or challenges did you face in crafting a follow-up that lives up to such a legacy?

It was a tremendous challenge and literally with every track and solo we did I had that in the back of my mind the all pervasive question “how does this song stack up , do the vocals stack up, does the drum sound as good as the original and so on and so on and the answer to all of my questions was a resounding Yes!! Every bit of it is as good or better than the original. So at the end of the day I can listen to the new album and feel that it truly is a worthy successor to the original.

8. Heavy metal has seen numerous transformations since the 1980s. How do you see the genre today, and where does Out of the Darkness Part II fit into the current metal landscape?

I think the new album fits in quite nicely and is helped by the infusion of young blood by vocalist Giles Lavery and also Eric Juris who added some great guitar to the album, so this album was a meeting of the generations and that is why I think both generations will love it.

9. You’ve mentioned the importance of “keeping the metal burning.” What advice would you give to younger musicians who are inspired by your work and want to carry forward the torch of classic heavy metal?  

I think its great that heavy metal lives on and my advice to some of the younger metal musicians is play what is in your heart don’t worry about trends because they come and go but each of us has a musical message so let it come out, we only live once so let’s make music that reflects who we are.

10. Looking ahead, are there plans for live performances or a tour to promote Out of the Darkness Part II? If so, what can fans expect from the live experience?  

There are plans to play shows both in Europe and the US doing material from this album, without sounding cocky I have to say ” this album is really too good not to play it out’ and play it out is what we intend to do, thanks for listening.

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