Album Review: Serious Black – Suite 226 (AFM Records)

After 18 months, Serious Black are back with a bang with their killer new album ‘Suite 226’. They used their well-deserved time-out to design new concepts, to work on fresh material and also to build their own studio. Bassist Mario proudly announces:

The waiting comes to an end, we are fresh and rested. Above all, we are hungry to return to the stage.

On January 31st 2020, the German-American band proudly present their highly anticipated fourth studio album ‘Suite 226’ that’s guaranteed to stir the Power Metal community’s blood.

Not the Let it Go you’re thinking of but one with plenty of bombastic power. The kind that gets the hair standing up on the back of the neck and pulls at the fist demanding it be raised to the air. Energetic riffing, crunchy drums and vocals that alternate between gleeful statements and epic singing, it’s a solid start.

The power metal is very strong throughout Suite 226 and it’s tracks like When the Stars Are Right that showcase this. Uplifting energy, glorious rhythm that gets the heart beating a little faster and a catchy chorus. Chuck in a guitar solo, albeit one that’s short, and we have solid gold power metal.

Mightily does Solitude Etude join the fray, some unique elements giving it a stronger sense of identity. Before Fate of All Humanity loses its way a bit with a lacklustre and forgettable effort. Castiel rescues things though with a track where the vocals just rise and rise to eye-watering highs.

The bombastic-ness that really appeals about Serious Black returns with a bang on Heaven Shall Burn. The symphonic elements that often sit the background are a little more prominent here. Way Back Home and We Still Stand Tall then has the guitars at full strength for a pair of rifftastic romps of heavy bloody metal. The added touches of synth certainly don’t do it the pair any harm either.

Finally it’s Come Home and the title track to see Serious Black off into the sunset. The former is a super synthy power rock ballad that is a minute or two too long unfortunately while the latter is a literal epic. Massive guitars, the most sultry of vocal performances, the most uplifting of melodies and the most enjoyable of power metal.

It’s not perfect, the album as a whole, but as power metal goes in 2020, Serious Black have set the bar.

Serious Black – Suite 226 Full Track Listing:

1. Let It Go
2. When the Stars Are Right
3. Solitude Etude
4. Fate of All Humanity
5. Castiel
6. Heaven Shall Burn
7. Way Back Home
8. We Still Stand Tall
9. Come Home
10. Suite 226

Links

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