Released by: AFM Records

Release Date: September 9th, 2016

Genre: Power Metal

Links: https://www.facebook.com/seriousblackofficial

Line Up:

Urban breed (vocals)
Bob Katsionis (guitars)
Dominik Sebastian (guitars)
Mario Lochert (bass)
Jan Vacik (keyboards)
Alex Holzwarth (drums)

Tracklist:

01. Breaking The Surface
02. As Long As I’m Alive
03. Castor Skies
04. Heartbroken Soul
05. Dying Hearts
06. You’re Not Alone
07. Mirrorworld
08. State Of My Despair
09. The Unborn Never Die

I’m about two weeks shy of making a dream come true: going to ProgPower! I planned on buying tickets solely on the grounds of seeing Fates Warning play Awaken the Guardian in its entirety with that line up reuniting. This is a once in a lifetime chance I wasn’t interested in missing. Every year since its inception I have wanted to go, but have sadly had to miss it every time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about so many others on the bill, but the largest portion of them performing I had either never heard of or was unfamiliar with their music. One of these bands is called Serious Black. Whenever I go to a show I try to check out some music of all the bands playing to see if it is something I will be interested in checking out. When it was time to listen to Serious Black’s debut album As Daylight Breaks I was absolutely blown away at the amount of talent the band was sporting. Shortly after my research I learned they were releasing a new album right around PP time, and couldn’t wait to check it out.

Mirrorworld is a brilliant follow-up, demonstrating that in just a short matter of time the band has been able to form such a cohesive unit, creating a sound that is equal parts Power Metal and Melodic Rock, creating a sound that is easily recognizable as Serious Black. It isn’t easy playing a genre of music that has a bad tendency to be derivative and redundant and create something as brilliantly unique as what Serious Black has done, and so quickly. Some of it has to do with the distinct voice of Urban breed, an individual that has been making waves with his talent for some time now, but the band itself has a solid pedigree of experience and are able to take aspects of all the bands they have worked with past and present to develop two albums worth of songs that are simply amazing. Mirrorworld takes it to the next level, giving the band a much more confident sound with songs like “As Long As I’m Alive,” “Mirrorworld,” “The Unborn Never Die,” and “Castor Skies.” In such a short span of time and the progress of two albums, Serious Black are doing things early on that some bands never achieve.

Now that I have at least a passing knowledge (if not even more) of all the bands playing ProgPower I’m even more excited than I was at the announcement of Fates Warning. Serious Black are definitely one of the other bands high on my list that I am eager to check out, most of which is because of the incredible music found on Mirrorworld. I’ll be very surprised if this album isn’t held in high regard for many years to come. And if they remain on their current trajectory I can see big things coming their way.

Reviewer: Chris Martin