Serious Black, the “All-star-group-but-not-a-supergroup-in-that-sense” coming literally out of nowhere slamming down like an asteroid, are back already a year after their critically acclaimed debut album “As Daylight Breaks”. It’s been quite the year for them – good highs touring with bands such as HammerFall, Gamma Ray and Kamelot – and now it’s finally time for them to grace us with a second album – “Mirrorworld”.
And buckle up folks, “Mirrorworld” is an album that will take you for a ride.
It all begins a bit cautiously, you are slowly getting into the ride, the more adventurous ride I’d say – building up the excitement before stopping for a brief moment – then starting again. It builds up the tension, the excitement, prepares you for what is yet to come – and then unexpectedly throws you into the first song of the album, “As Long as I’m Alive”, that starts off as a statement, to the world – to the fans, to everyone.
It continues on in the, on the more aggressive side, “Castor Skies”, which is essentially a very typical metal song with bombastic choruses and hammering drums. After this – the ride slows down, and we are thrown into the highlight of the album. The heartbreak songs. “Heartbroken Soul” which brings the thoughts back to Cinderella’s 80’s hit “Nobody’s Fool”, with a bit of KISS’s “Forever”, it’s like mash of the two but with Serious Black’s own imprint on it. The song is followed up by one on a similar theme – “Dying Hearts”. There’s something about these two songs that simply catches me, drags me into and keeps me there.
Noteworthy, is Urban’s vocal work in this album. While I am familiar with some of his work with Bloodbound, I don’t think I’ve ever really heard him being so versatile as I find him on this album, especially with these two tracks. It’s almost to the point where I don’t recognize it being him and that’s a pretty good thing for me personally – showing the different sides of one persons talent.
The pace is picked up in “You’re Not Alone” which fills the function of giving you a hint of hope after dragging you down in the heartbreak sever, and then an echoing, almost Amaranthe-like intro starts off to prepare you for the titletrack – The “Mirrorworld.” A song dealing with the emotion of being locked up in a situation you can’t get out of, suffocating you and trying to find your way. It’s followed up by “State of my Despair” which follows up the theme of the previous one, before wrapping up the album with “Unborn Never Die”.
To conclude it all, while still being in the spirits of “As Daylight Breaks”, it’s elevated. It’s better, bigger and essentially, taking more space. It’s got cheerful and big songs with adrenaline pumping lyrics as well as low key songs with touching lyrics and I also sense a little bit of 80’s inspiration – unintentionally or not, I love it. The album has a clean production and a good consistency throughout the album – there really aren’t anything I can complain about. Well done, boys!
(Label: AFM Records)
CDON I Amazon I Ginza
// Sara
Sara Hammerzmith 