I am always really cautious when I read a press release by a label promoting a new album by a so called supergroup. You see, it’s not that rare the fact that a) it’s not really a supergroup but merely a bunch of middle-range musicians and b) that it’s actually a supergroup but the final result to be uneven with weak songs on it thus forgetting almost instantly the pompous title of the press release.
Luckily for all of us, Serious Black doesn’t fit in any of the aforementioned cases although someone might say that their members are not superstars. I have to underline that these are some well-respected musicians that have played in the past with illustrious bands like Helloween, Masterplan, Blind Guardian, Tad Morose and I am sure that many power metal (and not only) aficionados are familiar with the names of Roland Grapow, Thomen Stauch and Urban breed. Add to this line-up the Greek guitarist/keyboardist extraordinaire Bob Katsionis (who replaced Grapow in early 2015) and you get a perfect picture of Serious Black.
Musically, Serious Black plays a symphonic Euro-power metal with a few melodic rock traced here and there. Personally, they reminded me of Kamelot (“The Black Halo” era), Helloween (of the last couple of records), a little bit of Nightwish (especially in the symphonic references). The songs are pretty well crafted and memorable and especially the first 6 tracks of the album are bombastic and set the pace for the rest of the bunch! My favorite songs in there are “My Mystic Mind”, “Sealing My Fate” and the ultra melodic “Setting Fire To The Earth”.
The undisputed star of “As Daylight Breaks” is most definitely Urban breed and if you didn’t have the chance in the past to check him out, just imagine someone that has a voice very close to Johnny Gioeli and Roy Khan. Thomen Stauch is also bombastic behind the drum kit and all in all I have to say that this is a…serious (black) sample of excellent power metal music. Let’s just hope that there will be a sophomore release in the future.
Highlight: There is a great cover of Genesis’ classic song “No Son Of Mine”.
