Although I wouldn't be sure how covers of both Hawkwind's "Orgone Accumulator" and Donovan's "Intergalactic Laxative" would come out on the science tally...

Hey man. "Event Horizon" is like the #2 track in my phone's "frequently played" list, edged out for #1 spot by Annihilator's "Sonic Homicide"!

Those Stratovarius guys should consult some native English speaker before finalizing lyrics. "A star dies collapsing in its core" can be corrected to "into its core"---and then the number of syllables actually scans better; we don't have to stretch the "-ing" over an extra beat.

The song is not really about "it involves someone approaching a black hole in a spaceship with an onboard computer that has a vaguely Russian accent". The speaker in the song imagines that. The beginning is:

Standing outside in darkness

My breath is steaming

The skies open wide

I hear the silent screaming

Deep in the dark, somewhere in space

Spinning around, leaving no trace

We can regard this as the speaker's imagination being stirred with thoughts of distant black holes, as he stands clear sky on a winter's night. The main element there is that of suicide: nothing matters:

I can see the point of no return

And when the light is slowly turning to red

Life gives away, there's no concern

On this cold night under the stars, the speaker voice is fantasizing about dying by steering a ship into a black hole, ignoring the evacuation alarms that are going off.

It didn't even occur to me to try to read the song in any but the most literal sense. Your explanation is very compelling!

The only thing that detracts from it is the relative cheerfulness of the song (especially the keyboard/guitar duet that starts at about the 2m30s mark) -- although who knows, it could very well represent euphoria associated with the prospect of imminent liberation?

Thank you for this! Glad you like Strato; I love the way Event Horizon shifts to Elysium, a song I listened to three times a week for 4 months on repeat on my 20-minute bus commute back when I was in uni.

Thanks for sharing, all sorts of good finds in this thread. :)

Allegaeon is perhaps my favorite metal band, and their songs frequently revolve around physics, biology, sci-fi, and futurism:

The God Particle: http://youtu.be/hthQvqbyyZg

Accelerated Evolution: http://youtu.be/z2JKv7hGz1Y

Dyson Sphere: http://youtu.be/tk1aLKTmgXU

Haha, I haven't listened to Star One in quite a while!

I really liked the one album I heard though, Space Metal.

I think I originally gave them a listendue to their having Russel Allen (of Symphony X) as vocalist.

I was not disappointed. I'll have to check out that second album!

01011001 a great metal opera album from Ayreon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/01011001

01 is actually how I discovered Ayreon. I'm now going back and listening to older albums. Was surprised at the number of incredible guests! (Bob Catley, James LaBrie, Bruce Dickinson, Floor Jansen, Jordan Rudess, Hansi Kürsch...).