Easy to appreciate the thinking behind this EP, celebrating the band's fortieth year of existence with two original songs and two covers, yet the results are uneven enough to make it strictly for the most rabid of fans. Personally speaking at least, Candlemass' reunion in 2018 with Johan Längquist hasn't led to as great a result from studio sessions as the Rob Lowe years, making The Door to Doom and Sweet Evil Sun some of my least favourite releases from these legends! And unfortunately Black Star continues to bear generally less impressive results. The best original piece present by far is the title track, a suitably dramatic acoustic intro with Längquist trying his best leading to a better performance when the main riff kicks in. The song continues to alternate between melancholic acoustic and heavier rocking sections and does both well enough to be listenable. In the song's second half there's an injection of energy, an instrumental section allowing guitarists Lars Johansson and Mats Björkman to shine although sadly not enough for the song to rank close to the classics from Candlemass.

The following Corridors of Chaos is very forgettable, however, a sub-four minute instrumental that feels like a collection of riffs for little purpose other than filler - the band really could and should have put more into this, as it feels too much like a snippet of a song. At least they sound like they're having fun, here and on the covers of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Pentagram's Forever My Queen, however obvious the choices. The Black Sabbath cover is solid enough, if a little strained vocally, and it's strange to hear Längquist yelling "you bastards!" Forever My Queen rumbles along nicely with the more stonery tones contrasting well with the rest of the EP. There are clearly no issues instrumentally with the band - let's hope future releases find them a little more inspired, and here's to many more years of enjoying the doom legends. Fantastic piece of cover art, too!