Survival of the Fittest

And another supergroup! Get your pants ready to get changed, guys! Blackwelder is a band consisting of (ex-)members of Gamma Ray, Angra, Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Riot fronted by Primal Fear's vocalist Ralf Scheepers. Now, if that doesn't sound fun!

Interesting to say is that, although Blackwelder is a band which features many quite prominent members, it is guitarist Andrew Szucs (Seven Seraphim) who mainly was responsible for the songwriting; and it shows. Sometimes, at least. The guitar stands out most of the times and this most definitely not a bad thing as Blackwelder as a band focuses primary on melody and fast tempo while keeping the spirit of American power metal. While I always embrace this kind of balls to the wall music, Survival of the Fittest can be a bit of a show-off in terms of the guitar at some points. However, the concept as a whole works and Blackwelder create their own little niche. It's always difficult if there's a band which features experienced and somewhat famous members. What will it sound like? That's probably the reason why many supergroups can't agree with each other, release a halfhearted album to please the label and carry on with their main projects afterwards.

I feel like this is not the case with Blackwelder. It's difficult to say something like that just now and we have to see how the band develops but it feels like each and everyone in the band is satisfied with what they are doing and the result is reminiscent of something warm, something alive. That said, this record feels refreshing. The diverse assembly of the different musicians is interesting enough to not be overlooked in the scene but also works well enough to not end up like a generic and mediocre abomination.

By now, Ralf Scheepers should be well known and received even beyond the borders of Germany. His high vocals harmonize surprisingly well with the rather aggressive sound of the rest of the band. Although the overall setting of the album is rather fast and heavy there still are melodic songs on it like “Spaceman” which transitions very well into the rest of the record. The album as a whole takes influences from many acts such as Edguy, Riot, Primal Fear (of course) and Helloween.

Every track from Survival of the Fittest is pretty enjoyable and it was something I definitely did not expect from such an unknown guitarist, from the band as a whole. The album feels good and refreshing without getting boring or stagnant. That said, the album is very guitar-driven and apart from small details there is little to criticize, this is rock-solid!

Originally written for fetiddead.wordpress.com.