Nov 17 2024 7 mins
Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate podcast for another amazing metal album review. Today we’re looking at the new one by UK symphonic power metal crew Fellowship with their second full-length album “The Skies Above Eternity” released by Scarlet Records.
Fellowship is a band that appeared on the scene just a few years ago and immediately received a lot of positive perception by power metal fans, so much so that it makes me question if I missed something. I have heard their 2022 debut “The Sabrelight Chronicles” maybe once, and for whatever reason didn’t find it worth revisiting. But Fellowship has definitely blown up and made a name for themselves in the genre, including appearing on the bills of Epic Fest in Denmark and Mad With Power Fest in the US.
I’ll go ahead and somewhat telegraph my conclusions out of the gate: based on this album at least, I think folks who are sky-high about Fellowship should tamp down the enthusiasm, but certainly any haters need to reevaluate their take because there’s a lot to appreciate as well.
First, singer Matthew Corry’s voice is both powerful and pleasant, and he impresses with his ability to manage against the symphonic mix with the strength of his diaphragm. Other than one misplaced falsetto on track one, he hits all the notes and conveys genuine emotion in his tone. That said, one of the problems I have with Fellowship’s approach overall is that there isn’t enough contrast provided between his saccharine-sweet singing and the rest of the music. I really noticed this in the few places where the instrumentation dropping out entirely as on “World End Slowly” and there was at least the contrast with silence. If you are going to have a metal band with vocals that are so slick and sugary – basically a singing style that would be at home in adult contemporary rock – you really, really need something with a touch more rawness for contrast.
Musically – and I’ve hinted at this earlier – the guitars don't crunch as much as I would like throughout. It’s not so much that I need the distortion up front in the mix but that, again, the contrast with the vocals would be helpful. That said, the guitarwork is effective and I appreciated the subtle infusion of neoclassical playing in places. Bass guitar is present throughout the album and often noticeable, as are keys. There is a lot of keyboard and vocal layering happening, and Fellowship makes judicious use of effects like bells and various other symphonic instrument sounds. The orchestration generally is solid, although not so impressive as to merit the inclusion of the final track referenced previously. Callum Tuffin's drumming on the album is outstanding and a key element of the album’s overall vitality.
As far as the overall aesthetic, the mood created by Fellowship’s is consistently uplifting, victorious, and frankly, happy. It evokes a fantasy atmosphere – almost Tolkien-esque, which I guess shouldn’t be a surprise given the band’s logo font – with gorgeous sound and adventurous, melodic structures. I wouldn’t say that what Fellowship does here is innovative overall, but there is a freshness to the execution and some creative takes. While there are no overt references to Christianity, if one didn’t know better they would be forgiven for thinking this was a white metal album along the lines of Lightmare or Theocracy.
“The Skies Above Eternity” is too much sunshine and rainbows for my taste. If I have one suggestion for Fellowship going forward it would be to mix in just a couple of darker, moodier tracks on the next album. Not simply for their own sake, but because the comparison would make the band’s lighter songs shine even brighter!
Fellowship’s “The Skies Above Eternity” is released by Scarlet Records on November 22nd. You can purchase the new album via ScarlettRecords.com, Bandcamp, and other places you find quality metal music.
Fellowship is a band that appeared on the scene just a few years ago and immediately received a lot of positive perception by power metal fans, so much so that it makes me question if I missed something. I have heard their 2022 debut “The Sabrelight Chronicles” maybe once, and for whatever reason didn’t find it worth revisiting. But Fellowship has definitely blown up and made a name for themselves in the genre, including appearing on the bills of Epic Fest in Denmark and Mad With Power Fest in the US.
I’ll go ahead and somewhat telegraph my conclusions out of the gate: based on this album at least, I think folks who are sky-high about Fellowship should tamp down the enthusiasm, but certainly any haters need to reevaluate their take because there’s a lot to appreciate as well.
First, singer Matthew Corry’s voice is both powerful and pleasant, and he impresses with his ability to manage against the symphonic mix with the strength of his diaphragm. Other than one misplaced falsetto on track one, he hits all the notes and conveys genuine emotion in his tone. That said, one of the problems I have with Fellowship’s approach overall is that there isn’t enough contrast provided between his saccharine-sweet singing and the rest of the music. I really noticed this in the few places where the instrumentation dropping out entirely as on “World End Slowly” and there was at least the contrast with silence. If you are going to have a metal band with vocals that are so slick and sugary – basically a singing style that would be at home in adult contemporary rock – you really, really need something with a touch more rawness for contrast.
Musically – and I’ve hinted at this earlier – the guitars don't crunch as much as I would like throughout. It’s not so much that I need the distortion up front in the mix but that, again, the contrast with the vocals would be helpful. That said, the guitarwork is effective and I appreciated the subtle infusion of neoclassical playing in places. Bass guitar is present throughout the album and often noticeable, as are keys. There is a lot of keyboard and vocal layering happening, and Fellowship makes judicious use of effects like bells and various other symphonic instrument sounds. The orchestration generally is solid, although not so impressive as to merit the inclusion of the final track referenced previously. Callum Tuffin's drumming on the album is outstanding and a key element of the album’s overall vitality.
As far as the overall aesthetic, the mood created by Fellowship’s is consistently uplifting, victorious, and frankly, happy. It evokes a fantasy atmosphere – almost Tolkien-esque, which I guess shouldn’t be a surprise given the band’s logo font – with gorgeous sound and adventurous, melodic structures. I wouldn’t say that what Fellowship does here is innovative overall, but there is a freshness to the execution and some creative takes. While there are no overt references to Christianity, if one didn’t know better they would be forgiven for thinking this was a white metal album along the lines of Lightmare or Theocracy.
“The Skies Above Eternity” is too much sunshine and rainbows for my taste. If I have one suggestion for Fellowship going forward it would be to mix in just a couple of darker, moodier tracks on the next album. Not simply for their own sake, but because the comparison would make the band’s lighter songs shine even brighter!
Fellowship’s “The Skies Above Eternity” is released by Scarlet Records on November 22nd. You can purchase the new album via ScarlettRecords.com, Bandcamp, and other places you find quality metal music.