Interesting case of the German Serious Black. The band that started out as a group that was a wet dream for power metal fans, because that’s what you are when you have former members of, Tad Morose / Helloween / Blind Guardian in your ranks, quickly lost its glamour and those members as well. His sound didn’t change that much though.
So it’s the same with “Rise” which is their seventh album in ten years of existence. The return of Bob Katsionis seems to have balanced things out somewhat without, of course, talking about a dramatic comeback. The band continues on the path of melodic, very melodic actually, power metal that flirts strongly with pop music. Just take the guitars out of the equation and you’ll remember me.
But they’ve always played like that, except for the somewhat harder Suite 226 of 2020, so they have their audience. If you like melodic lines with some doses of speed, “Rise” is the shot you need until some big name in the business comes out with a work. Because as a matter of fact the band isn’t exactly Champion League level. Still, there are not a few moments when some compositions will stick with you. A shining example for me is the beautiful “Take Your Life” which forced me, in a good way, to listen to it many times on repeat.
Despite being a fan of Urban Breed, I can’t say that Nikola Mijic doesn’t do a calling job. After all, his voice is tailor made for that sound or even more rock situations.
At forty-three minutes, “Rise” is a safe album for the fan of the sound. Likeable and easy to listen to but that’s about it. I’m unlikely to return to it after a while except maybe to listen to a song or two of it.
