This is the second album by UK power metal band Fellowship.
Fellowship made a splash with the upbeat power metal positivity of 2022’s The Saberlight Chronicles, so many eyes and ears are now expectantly turned towards The Skies Above Eternity. With a duration of 43 minutes, (over 20 minutes shorter than its predecessor), what does this new record bring to us?
The Skies Above Eternity is almost business as usual for Fellowship, but not quite. In places it’s arguably somewhat darker in character than The Saberlight Chronicles, yet not overwhelmingly so. It’s all relative of course, as this is still Fellowship as we know them, only with a few minor tweaks.
While still epic, grand, and symphonic, it’s a little less of those things this time around, and instead delivers songs that take the band’s more traditional power metal aspects and focus on them to a greater extent. Fellowship feel like they have embraced their old-school influences more deeply, making for songs that are weightier and more shaded on average than the previous album’s lighter brightness.
The songs are well-written, catchy, packed with hooks, and boast a charismatic presence that’s infectious. The singer’s voice is just as strong as it was previously, and overall The Skies Above Eternity offers up an extremely strong and professional power metal package. That it’s only slightly longer than 40 minutes in duration doesn’t hurt either.
Ultimately The Skies Above Eternity is another dose of hearty, anthemic, fun power metal. The songs are very good, and the album extremely easy to digest. If this is a style you enjoy, then this is pretty much an essential listen.
Wonderbox Metal 