Serenity was formed in Austria back in 2001 and they now present us their second Napalm Records release, Fallen Sanctuary. In support of their previous releases, they toured with DIO, Threshold, Communic, Machine Men and Kamelot amongst others. Their mission now is to force bands like Sonata Arctica and aforementioned Kamelot to step aside, so they can claim the throne of this (symphonic) melodic metal scene.

With Fallen Sanctuary they prove from start to end that this is a serious seizure of power. In their sound you can definitely recognize the influences from some other bands in this genre, ‘Rust Of Coming Ages’ could for example easily have been a song by Threshold, but they fortunately never literally copy any other band.

Fallen Sanctuary is a record with ten equally strong tracks. There are no fillers, every track deserves his spot on this album. From up-tempo powermetal to a beautiful ballad, the music is played very tight, the structures are well-thought through, but above all, the vocals are amazing. Georg Neuhauser has a great voice, but also the female guest vocals of Sandra Schleret (Elis) and the occasional grunts are of a high level. The ballad ‘Fairytales’ becomes way more interesting because of Sandra’s voice and the grunts on ‘Rust Of Coming Ages’ and ‘Oceans Of Ruby’ add an extra dimension to those songs. Another big plus is their bombastic sound.

Hopefully this review has made you curious, ‘cause these guys deserve to be heard.