Fall Of Serenity

Fresh off the rarely seen bassist-to-vocalist switch, Germany’s Fall of Serenity have released The Crossfire, an album that mashes together some interesting influences. In what is hopefully an attempt to distance themselves, albeit slightly, from the plethora of European death metal bands that pretty much all sound the same, Fall of Serenity inject a couple Maiden-esque harmonies and even some riffs that could have come from Metallica in order to mix things up a bit. They still sound a lot like Arch Enemy and the like but the subtle changes are a nice surprise. Going back to the aforementioned roster shuffle, it’s a wonder why the band’s former bassist (John Gahlert) didn’t take up the mic sooner. Gahlert’s performance may very well be the strongest part of this record, as he rips and tears through every track with guttural wisdom. Some random appearances of cleaner back-up vocals seem somewhat random and take away from the overall viciousness of the listening experience, but they also serve to prevent Fall of Serenity from falling further into the crossfire of a million other bands that sound alike.