The story of Serenity is one like many others. Formed in January 2001, playing progressive melodic metal they became quite famous in their home country Austria. Sadly, they were held back by line-up changes until 2003, when they searched and found new members. Because of the line-up changes the music became a little less progressive and more metal-oriented, but still containing the melodic aspects. After successfully supporting Dio in Austria and delivering a widely appreciated demo Engraved Within they decided to take it a notch higher with their first full-length album Words Untold & Dreams Unlived.

The album cover artwork was the first thing to attract my eye. Quite a bizarre one actually, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the music itself. But it’s still the music that counts. And Serenity certainly has taken that into account. The album kicks off with the heavy guitar riffs oriented song ‘Canopus’. Honestly, I would have taken another opener for the record because this is, in my opinion, the lesser good of all songs. So if you give this album a listen, don’t ditch them immediately, it gets better and better towards the end. Especially ‘Forever’ and ‘Dead Man Walking’ entertained me with their interesting melodies and rhythms.

This ten songs containing record brings us fast hearth pumping melodic metal. The heavy tuned guitars and the melodic high tuned piano/keyboards create a very subtle and beautiful contrast. The vocal lines sang by Georg Neuhauser aren’t my cup of tea, but they certainly aren’t bad. There aren’t too much progressive elements incorporated in the music and most of the melodies are pretty catchy. Also a nice addition are the “pauses” created by the two very chill instrumental songs ‘Words Untold’ and ‘Dreams Unlived’ (hence the album title).

 

I would consider this a record worth purchasing when you’re into power and melodic metal, but definitely also when you simply like good heavy metal. This album may not be outstanding and very innovative, it’s still well worth the listen!