SERENITY – Words Untold & Dreams Unlived

SERENITY - Words Untold & Dreams Unlived
  • 9/10
    SERENITY - Words Untold & Dreams Unlived - 9/10
9/10

Summary

Napalm Records
Release date: April 30, 2007

Sending
User Review
0/10 (0 votes)

This was about time! For quite a while Serenity were an insider’s tip that earned raving reviews for their demo in most German Metal magazines, but still remained unsigned. Napalm Records are the lucky ones to now have their signature under a contract.

Serenity are from Austria, a country that is -– except for a few Black and Extreme Metal bands — not known for their metallic output. Serenity is the exception here, as they made themselves a name in the underground and were recognized by many when they supported Dio in 2004. Now, with the album in hand, or better in ear, fans should all regret to have missed those shows.

Serenity is labelled Progressive Melodic Metal, which only fits partially. On most songs, they are as progressive as, say, Ronnie’s compositions, so Prog fanatics should probably risk an ear before they buy. Everybody else, count your money already … since Worlds Untold & Dreams Unlived has a good chance of being among this year’s top ten albums.

The album opens with a SciFi-influenced track based on the book Dune by Frank Herbert, nicely hinted at by oriental sounds that make you immediately imagine a desert, which is the most Progressive track on the album and reminds of Threshold –- not only because of Geord Neuhauser’s brilliant vocals that at times sound like Andrew McDermott. They could not have picked a better track to start! But, slightly In Flames or Soilwork influenced “Reduced To Nothingness” can keep up with the opener and has one of the catchiest refrains on the album, before one of the two short instrumentals that give the album its named interrupts and give a short time to rest.

Lordi’s success at the European Song Contest last year made a lot of Metal bands apply to appear for their country at this year’s event. “Circle Of My 2nd Life” with its Poppy tune and mellow middle part was among the songs picked to represent Austria. And, it continues down the quality road: “Engraved Within” from their demo sounds even better here, with piano parts and heavy riffing complementing each other nicely, and it also has an orchestral part that was the weak point of the demo version but now sounds as it should; and track six, “Forever,” is an uptempo Melodic Rock track with a very catchy chorus, before the second short instrumental “Dreams Unlived” heralds the last part of the album with three more tracks of fine Melodic Metal: mid-tempo “Dead Man Walking,” epic “From Where The Dark Is Born,” and “Thriven” complete the circle, as these sound more Progressive again and is reminiscent of Threshold.

What Serenity delivers is nothing less than a wonderful and remarkable debut album that every Melodic Metal fan should have in his collection. If you still need convincing, the band tells you what their influences are on their Web page. The album tracks – with one exception – are totally available, so let them help you decide if this is a release for you.

Influences

Georg Neuhauser (Vocals): Kamelot, Queen, Symphony X
Thomas Buchberger (Guitar): Dream Theater, Metallica, Rage, Racer X
Mario Hirzinger (Keyboards): Soilwork, Dark Tranquility, Evergrey, Pagan’s Mind, Mercenary
Andreas Schipflinger (Drums): Toto, Planet X, Dream Theater
Simon Holzknecht (Bass): Dream Theater, Zero Hour, Sun Caged, Cannibal Corpse (uh, ignore the last one for comparison …)

Author

  • Frank Jaeger

    Frank was a reviewer here at Metal Express Radio, based out of Bavaria, Germany. He has worked in the games industry for more than 20 years, now on the manufacturing side, before on the publishing end. Before this, he edited and handled the layout for a city mag in northern Germany ... maybe that is why he love being part of anything published. Frank got hooked on Metal at the age of 14 when a friend introduced him to AC/DC. They were listening to The Beatles, Madness, and The Police, and he decided they should move on. Well, they did, Back in Black became Frank's first Metal album, and since Germany is reasonably close to England, they had some small New Waves Of British Heavy Metal washing up on their shores: Tygers Of Pan Tang, Samson, Gillan, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Sweet Savage, Diamond Head, etc. If he had to pick his favorite styles, Prog and Power Metal would be at the top of the list.

    View all posts

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.