Fellowship return with their second full-length album showcasing their positivity in this collection of power metal tracks.
Hailing from the UK, Fellowship released a couple singles and the Fellowship ep (2020) before their first full length, The Saberlight Chronicles in 2022. Another ep, The Winterlight Chronicles followed in 2023 and now the band’s second full length, The Skies Above Eternity is out on Scarlet Records. The album was produced by Rich Campbell at Orpheus Studios and mixed by Alexander Backlund at Fascination Street Studios.
Power metal is one of my favorite genres as powerful vocals and great guitars have always spoken to me, so I look forward to reviewing power metal as it’s rare I find a release that just doesn’t work for me. Unfortunately, that is the case with The Skies Above Eternity. From the very opening of “Hold Up Your Hearts (Again)”, I knew I was not going to be a fan of this release. I think much of it has to do with the overwhelming dominance of keyboards and vocals in the mix and in general it seems very overproduced. I find it a bit amazing that with the dominance of the keyboards, there is no keyboard player mentioned that I could find and they are not in the videos either.
I just can’t get past the production and mixing…every rough edge is smoothed out to the point where it takes away from the performances. Power metal should be smooth but not to this level, at least for my liking. This is where reviewing music gets tough as there are others out there who are looking for this exact sound. As a note, I’m an aging hardcore punk, metalhead, so the more confrontational an album is, the more I tend to like it and I do even like the occasional barely produced black metal project, so I admit my biases.
The medieval/hobbit theme runs strong through the videos the band has released from the album and the songs are bright and upbeat and the videos to show some of guitar work going on that you struggle to hear in the mix, so that is a good thing. Going back to listen to tracks from their previous album, shows much of the same themes and visuals but you can clearly hear the guitars and drums even if the vocals are a bit too prominent. Emotion in the vocals is also more on display in the older material, which is something I would have really like to see on the new album. I’m guessing in a live situation the sound would be very different than on The Skies Above Eternity and more to my liking, which is a shame for this album.
The performances are strong on the album but (again), to me the vocals lack a real sense of conviction in the delivery. They are smoothly delivered and there is a good range on display but overall they seem to lack the dynamics found on most power metal albums. The guitars when heard are impressive but here again there is a bit of monotony as the solos seem to be mostly aimed at just trying to cram as many notes in as possible. To that end they are impressive and at times reminiscent of something like you’d hear from Dragonforce. The more I listen, the more I’d like to hear the album with different production and mixing as so much is lost behind the vocals and keyboards. With all the puppets in the video for “Hold Up Your Hearts (Again)” and their apparent trademark “hobbit” attire, they are trying to live up to their comment of wanting to make power metal in a way that doesn’t make them cringe too hard”, but I did find this one a bit cringeworthy.
Rating: 5/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist
- Hold Up Your Hearts (Again)
- Victim
- The Bitter Winds
- Dawnbreaker
- Eternity
- King of Nothing
- World End Slowly
- A New Hope
- Memories on the Wind
Release date: 22 October 2024
Record Label Scarlet Records, 2024
Band Members
Callum Tuffen – Drums
Sam Browne – Guitars
Brad Wosko – Guitars
Matthew Corry – Vocals|
Ed Munson – Bass
Social Media: Facebook / Instagram / Spotify
Video for “Dawnbreaker”:
Video for “Hold Up Your Hearts (Again):
Video for “Victim”: