Serious Black
As Daylight Breaks
AFM Records
2015
Serious Black is another of these “Superbands” with people that were once members of bigger bands but for various reasons they were either dismissed or left them, having since then attempted to channel their creative energies in other projects with more or less success in each case.
On vocals we have, none other than the truly awesome Urban Breed, best regarded for his past in Tad Morose and Bloodbound, who’s one of the better vocalists in the genre and on this album easily “justifies” the praise he’s been receiving from people for his rich vocal charisma. Roland Grapow, was the guy that substituted Kai in Helloween, but he’s also come into some prominence with Masterplan with Jorn and by producing various artists. Along him there’s Dominik Sebastian the guitarist of Edenbridge, who’s also been in a few more projects as well as helped out a lot of bands in live performances. Mario Lochert, on bass you might recognize from Visions of Atlantis and Emergency gate. A certain Jan Vacik is behind the keys, but most of the band’s he’s played on have not made a huge mark so far, however he’s on par, with the rest of the people involved as far as musical ability in concerned. Last but not least Thomen Stauch, most people will remember as the original drummer of Blind Guardian and maybe from his pass through the ranks of Iron Savior and the BG soundalikes Savage Circus. Quite a line-up then!
But have all those talented gentlemen, manage to come up with some convincing songs, or is Serious Black, just a band that tries to cash in, based on the “claim to fame” of its members? Well the album is fairly good, on its own, but it’s largely due to Urban Breed’s contributions that it gains a competitive edge, since he gives the songs an edge and splendor that some lesser singer might have taken away.
“I Seek No Other Life” is a rousing opener, with an urgent chorus, that takes the best elements of Helloween and gives them a new lick of paint a harder edge and with Urban’s aid, delivers a hit, between the eyes!
The follow-up “High and Low” is a lot more melodic, with Urban, chameleon like, opting for a more Andi Deris like delivery. The keyboards, tint the song in more prog shades, a bit reminiscent of Conception’s power metal era and this ends up being another highly enjoyable composition.
“Sealing My Fate” has a long, sorrowful intro, that’s just keys and voice before it breaks into a fuller heavier style, retaining its beautiful slightly melancholic overtones. Bittersweet.
“Temple of the Sun” is an atmospheric intro to “Akhenaton” a song rich in Middle Eastern elements so much, that during its intro I thought I was listening to a slowed down version of “Knights of Arabia” by Kamelot… obviously as soon as the chorus hits it changes completely, but… it’s probably the way the used that must have been quite common. Another great performance by Breed, who’s pretty spot on, on pretty much every track, with great tone, feel and strong, full deliveries throughout.
“My Mystic Mind” changes things quite radically, moving along quite swiftly, its verses passing at a frantic pace, with the chorus creating quite an antithesis…
“Trail of Murder” – (Urban’s band is called just that!) is a quirky mid-tempo with nice underlying melodies… but is it an original, or was this intended for T.O.M?! (I suppose only UB knows and could answer that... and if there’s ever a second T.O.M, I just hope it doesn’t contain a track called “Serious Black”… seriously!
“As Daylight Breaks” sets Breed, against a handful of strings… and begins as a mellow ballad and progressively ads percussion and additional orchestration to reach a glorious crescendo… typical sort of song but nicely executed.
“Setting Fire to the Earth” (you pyromaniacs!) is a more average power metal number, that has a nice lead melody, but seems a little strained... overall it’s passable (and you can read this both ways!) and only saved by the creed of the breed!
“Listen to the Storm” is a slower more somber song that would also be considered a lesser composition, but again it’s given a lifeline by some nifty keyboards and Urban’s passionate delivery that seems to alleviate all the weaknesses it has.
And while the album did seem to lose its pace and fire towards the end, “Older and Wise” the final track on the album is a lot faster and more involved, washing away any shadow of the doubt that the last couple of tracks might have created about the overall quality of the album.
“As Daylight Breaks” is an album that can only help the much maligned power metal genre. While it’s not an iconic classic, Serious Black’s debut demonstrates no negative signs, features quite solid songwriting and exemplary performances. Fans of late 80s and early 90s power metal should enjoy this a lot.
On vocals we have, none other than the truly awesome Urban Breed, best regarded for his past in Tad Morose and Bloodbound, who’s one of the better vocalists in the genre and on this album easily “justifies” the praise he’s been receiving from people for his rich vocal charisma. Roland Grapow, was the guy that substituted Kai in Helloween, but he’s also come into some prominence with Masterplan with Jorn and by producing various artists. Along him there’s Dominik Sebastian the guitarist of Edenbridge, who’s also been in a few more projects as well as helped out a lot of bands in live performances. Mario Lochert, on bass you might recognize from Visions of Atlantis and Emergency gate. A certain Jan Vacik is behind the keys, but most of the band’s he’s played on have not made a huge mark so far, however he’s on par, with the rest of the people involved as far as musical ability in concerned. Last but not least Thomen Stauch, most people will remember as the original drummer of Blind Guardian and maybe from his pass through the ranks of Iron Savior and the BG soundalikes Savage Circus. Quite a line-up then!
But have all those talented gentlemen, manage to come up with some convincing songs, or is Serious Black, just a band that tries to cash in, based on the “claim to fame” of its members? Well the album is fairly good, on its own, but it’s largely due to Urban Breed’s contributions that it gains a competitive edge, since he gives the songs an edge and splendor that some lesser singer might have taken away.
“I Seek No Other Life” is a rousing opener, with an urgent chorus, that takes the best elements of Helloween and gives them a new lick of paint a harder edge and with Urban’s aid, delivers a hit, between the eyes!
The follow-up “High and Low” is a lot more melodic, with Urban, chameleon like, opting for a more Andi Deris like delivery. The keyboards, tint the song in more prog shades, a bit reminiscent of Conception’s power metal era and this ends up being another highly enjoyable composition.
“Sealing My Fate” has a long, sorrowful intro, that’s just keys and voice before it breaks into a fuller heavier style, retaining its beautiful slightly melancholic overtones. Bittersweet.
“Temple of the Sun” is an atmospheric intro to “Akhenaton” a song rich in Middle Eastern elements so much, that during its intro I thought I was listening to a slowed down version of “Knights of Arabia” by Kamelot… obviously as soon as the chorus hits it changes completely, but… it’s probably the way the used that must have been quite common. Another great performance by Breed, who’s pretty spot on, on pretty much every track, with great tone, feel and strong, full deliveries throughout.
“My Mystic Mind” changes things quite radically, moving along quite swiftly, its verses passing at a frantic pace, with the chorus creating quite an antithesis…
“Trail of Murder” – (Urban’s band is called just that!) is a quirky mid-tempo with nice underlying melodies… but is it an original, or was this intended for T.O.M?! (I suppose only UB knows and could answer that... and if there’s ever a second T.O.M, I just hope it doesn’t contain a track called “Serious Black”… seriously!
“As Daylight Breaks” sets Breed, against a handful of strings… and begins as a mellow ballad and progressively ads percussion and additional orchestration to reach a glorious crescendo… typical sort of song but nicely executed.
“Setting Fire to the Earth” (you pyromaniacs!) is a more average power metal number, that has a nice lead melody, but seems a little strained... overall it’s passable (and you can read this both ways!) and only saved by the creed of the breed!
“Listen to the Storm” is a slower more somber song that would also be considered a lesser composition, but again it’s given a lifeline by some nifty keyboards and Urban’s passionate delivery that seems to alleviate all the weaknesses it has.
And while the album did seem to lose its pace and fire towards the end, “Older and Wise” the final track on the album is a lot faster and more involved, washing away any shadow of the doubt that the last couple of tracks might have created about the overall quality of the album.
“As Daylight Breaks” is an album that can only help the much maligned power metal genre. While it’s not an iconic classic, Serious Black’s debut demonstrates no negative signs, features quite solid songwriting and exemplary performances. Fans of late 80s and early 90s power metal should enjoy this a lot.