SEVERED ANGEL
“Skyward”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Severed Angel are a melodic metal band from the USA formed in 2022, releasing their debut album ‘Severed Angel’ in 2023, and sophomore album ‘Skyward’ in 2024…

…just twelve months after the bands incredibly melodious meld of symphonic, thrash and traditional heavy metal debut! ‘Severed Angel’ was immensely infectious, Severed Angel delivering an album to whet the appetites of every single metalhead around the world – appetites that are still wet to this day! And may now eventually be satisfied by the New York quintet, as the band return with new album ‘Skyward’, featuring ten songs that run the entire length and breadth of metal territory – ‘From The Inside’ gliding in on the crest of building serenity, the anticipation level going through the roof as the band excel at creating a terrific edge of your seat feel! And when ‘From The Inside’ finally gets going proper, it’s not with blistering speed but more a weighty anthemic feel that shudders the ground – the snarling vocals sending shivers down the spine! An incredible opener from a relatively young band with copious amounts of confidence.

Confidence that exudes from every aspect of the bands new album – ‘Live Your Imagination’ exploding furiously into life at a hundred fucking miles an hour! Severed Angel open the throttle all the way here, racing on with immense purpose and intent to wake up every mosh pit in the world! The level of head bang ability is off the charts, ‘Live Your Imagination’ a corker that’s gonna set pulses racing and hearts pounding – ‘A Perfect Disaster’ sounding a lot meaner and moodier! And with a touch of thrash metal aggression too – the band heavying things up a little! Well quite a lot really, for ‘A Perfect Disaster’ could easily fit on a thrash metal album, Severed Angel attracting thrashers as well as metallers to the bands soundscape! A soundscape that varies with every song that passes on by, the title song ‘Skyward’ moving in the direction of melodic metal. More melodious than everything heard so far, ‘Skyward’ (the song) lightens the mood, creating a near party atmosphere where every single listener around the world sports a smile that stretches from ear to ear!

Smiles that are gonna remain in place as ‘Life Is Here And Now’ hits the airways with a thundering backdrop and a mighty foot stomp that’s liable to devastate the ground it stomps on! The band are at their heaviest here, slamming listeners to the wall with tremendous force, ‘Life Is Here And Now’ melding anthemic with a little progressive metal to produce a genre breaking border hopping song that simply refuses to be pigeon holed into just the one style of metal! The intensity of ‘Skyward’ (the album) since it began has been incredible, Severed Angel increasing it even more with the thunderous, fire and brimstone fuelled ‘Move Through The Dark’ – the energy level shooting right through the fucking roof too! The oomph on show right here is phenomenal, the band thrusting forward with more thrust than is needed to launch a rocket into space! There’s just no stopping the band, the American outfit taking the mighty foot stomp to a new level as ‘Tyrant On The Throne’ enters the fray as the heaviest song on offer – for all of thirty seconds! And then the bands melodic metal roots take over and ‘Tyrant On The Throne’ romps on with all the gusto of traditional heavy metal. And again with a little of metals progressive nature – not to mention the incredibly sing a long-able chorus! Fuck me that’s gonna be an amazing in-concert sing a long!

Since ‘Skyward’ (the album) began, Severed Angel have been very much on the front foot, never looking back as they strut their stuff with phenomenal poise and prowess – ‘Never Look Back’ bringing a Southern rock swagger to the fore! Yes readers – you read that right! The band are forever pushing their musical horizons to new heights, but never losing sight of where they came from – heavy metal! There’s always heavy metal fuelling every single song, the band building on that metal framework with any style of music they bloody well like! Makes for one helluva listen that’s for sure – ‘Tranquillity In Conflict’ battering listeners with a jack hammer style intro! And then a return of the bands melodic metal roots, ‘Tranquillity In Conflict’ actually planting one foot on the old school heavy metal monitor – the first song (on the album) to do so! Metal traditionalists are gonna love this one, Severed Angel maintaining their glorious romp all across metal territory, coming home with the final song ‘Citipati’. Clocking in at over six minutes in length, ‘Citipati’ is by far and away the longest song on offer, and showcases the band at their most furious! The pace here is incredible, Severed Angel galloping hard to deliver a sparkling finale to a great album of intense yet infectious heavy metal.

Overall, an all out barrage of melodic metal with thrash, power and progressive leanings, ‘Skyward’ is an infectious head turner.

TRACKLIST

From The Inside
Live Your Imagination
A Perfect Disaster
Skyward
Life Is Here And Now
Move Through The Dark
Tyrant On The Throne
Never Look Back
Tranquillity In Conflict
Citipati

https://severedangel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SeveredAngelBand/

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