This is now the third release from Serious Black that I have reviewed within the pages of manofmuchmetal.com and it is safe to say that the results have been rather varied. 2017’s ‘Magic’ scored highly, as it delivered a very positive and enjoyable slab of melodic heavy metal. ‘Suite 226’, their 2020 offering didn’t hit the same level in my opinion and was ultimately rather disappointing. Always one to maintain an air of optimism, I refused to just turn my back on the band. Instead, I have checked out their sixth full-length release, ‘Vengeance Is Mine’, and have decided to bring you my thoughts on it subsequently.

В новом альбоме группа отошла от предыдущих историй, связанных с магией и другими потусторонними вещами. ‘Suite 226’ – история душевнобольного, разрывающегося между ужасающей реальностью и своими иллюзиями. В его мире грёз он – живущий в замке король, окружённый прекрасными женщинами. На его столах чудесное вино и роскошная еда, а под его командованием – непобедимая армия. В реальности он заперт в психбольнице, в камере-одиночке номер 226, и врачи проводят бесчеловечные эксперименты над его мозгом. И чем дальше это продолжается, тем больше протагонист скатывается в свой личный ад, с обширной паранойей и приступами паники.

I do enjoy short albums I can have easily in one sitting (you could literally watch a movie in the length of time it takes to spin the new Nightwish, for fuck’s sake), and so this is a nice record to consume on a quick walk. It helps that all the songs are of a high quality, and as this is probably the most Serious Black have leaned on the up-tempo power metal aspects of their sound, I’ve been spinning it a fair bit. Urban Breed sounds much better here than he did on ‘Suite 226’, more like his old Tad Morose self but a bit softer, as fitting for the material, which is generally very melodic, keyboardy power metal that functions as a run through conventions set out by Edguy, Helloween, and Stratovarius, with a tip of the hat towards old Queensryche. After a pointless symphonic intro (didn’t these go out of fashion fifteen years ago?) we launch into ‘As Long As I’m Alive’, a killer double kicker with a great verse and invigorating chorus, straight into one of Serious Black’s best tunes, the mighty ‘Castor Skies’. This one has plenty of harpsichord runs and snappy riffing before hitting the absolutely stellar chorus, probably my favorite moment on the whole disc. ‘Heartbroken Soul’ ends the trio of slick opening cuts, another highlight with a downhearted lyric and some nice melodic play.

The year 2015 started more than promising for fans of high class melodic metal: SERIOUS BLACK, a so-called 'allstar band' appeared on the scene and dropped their highly acclaimed debut album 'As Daylight Breaks'. Much to the surprise of many, SERIOUS BLACK indeed proved to be a real band and they kept their promise of rocking the stages wherever possible. So during only a year they not only successfully released a fantastic debut album, but also went on extensive European tours with HammerFall and later Gamma Ray. In addition, SERIOUS BLACK was chosen to be special guest on Kamelot's German Summer shows and also played numerous festivals in Europe. Being that active in the past 18 months, it's surprising to see the band announcing a brand new studio album already. You'll be even more surprise when 'Mirrorworld' sees its release: SERIOUS BLACK have managed to excel their excellent debut! Prepare for something special: the 'Mirrorworld' opens on September 9th…

Serious Black ist eine im Januar 2014 gegründete internationale Power-Metal-Band. Ihre Mitglieder sind daneben oder waren vorher bereits in anderen Bands erfolgreich. Der Bandname ist abgeleitet vom Namen des Magiers Sirius Black aus der Buchreihe Harry Potter. Um keine Markenrechte zu verletzen, wurde die Schreibweise abgeändert.

A new band - 6 members, 6 friends - all with huge experience and knowledge from many years in the business and being part of the most successful melodic metal bands: this is SERIOUS BLACK! The line-up consists of Roland Grapow (Masterplan, ex-Helloween), Thomen Stauch (ex-Blind Guardian), Mario Lochert (ex-Visions Of Atlantis), Dominik Sebastian (Edenbridge), Jan Vacik (ex-Dreamscape) and (last but not least) the golden voice of Urban breed (ex-Tad Morose). SERIOUS BLACK is different to many of the so-called 'all star' bands, because in fact, they are a real band. A band that crafted their incredible debut album 'As Daylight Breaks' together, with every member involved into songwriting and recordings, a band that can't wait to enter the stages. 'As Daylight Breaks' is a real teamwork effort, a melodic metal jewel displaying conviction, amazing musicianship and outstanding songwriting.

Featuring ex-HELLOWEEN member Roland Grapow on guitars, as well as Thomen Stauch, who used to be in BLIND GUARDIAN, amongst other particularly good musicians, this vinyl release means a real power metal treat. 'As Daylight Breaks' was originally released in January 2015 on CD, here comes the vinyl version: A must-have for fans of Power Metal the way it should be done, there's heavy and melodic riffs, soaring vocals, and great songwriting throughout this mammoth of an album!

Serious Black is basically typical German style heavy/power metal, albeit a little bit more on the melodic side and with a few more hard rock/AOR leanings than your average Helloween or Gamma Ray or Rage or whatever other German power metal band one might fancy, except perhaps Edguy's latest efforts.
There are some really enjoyable songs here even if they're extremely formulaic. It's more consistent in terms of song writing than many established bands' recent efforts even though the older bands' standout songs are still better. On the other hand Serious Black are still far better than the myriad of power/heavy metal bands in terms of getting the most out of generic song structures and equally generic melodies. In some ways Serious Black have written the ultimate examples of power metal archetypes. This is the benchmark for stereotypical power metal.