Vengeance Is Mine is the sixth studio album from Serious Black and the first to feature new singer Nikola Miji?, who also sings for Eden’s Curse, replacing Urban Breed. If you’ve heard any of their previous albums, you should have a good idea what to expect from Vengeance Is Mine, namely crunchy, Euro power metal. It is certainly similar to their last album, Suite 226, but I would say they’ve dialed up the accessibility this time around. There are more vocal hooks and the keys are more prevalent. It is still a crunchy sound but perhaps a little less reliant on the riffs and more on the melodies. Songs like "Out of the Ashes" and "Fallen Hero" had me thinking of Avantasia, especially in Miji?’s singing as he sounds like Tobias Sammet. "Tonight I’m Ready to Fight" and "Soldiers of Eternal Light" have a lot of little flourishes (the tinkling keys during the verses, for instance) that give the songs a glossiness that leans in the direction of Beast in Black, though by no means as "dancey" as the Finns. As far as crunchy power metal goes, Vengeance Is Mine has a more noticeable symphonic streak but is still crunchy at heart, so if you’ve enjoyed previous Serious Black albums, it’s a good bet this one will work for you just fine.
