The "melodic punch in the face" is back. And it hits even harder than before. Sarea, a band from Norrköping, Sweden, formed in 2008, are going to release their second album "This Is Not Goodbye", and it is awesome. It is full of songs with catchy choruses and even after you have stopped listening to it hours ago, you catch yourself singing the songs.
The singer Chris Forsberg sings both clean vocals and growls, which I highly appreciate. There are just a few singers who can do this without sounding bad at one of both, at least in my opinion. There are Tomi Joutsen (Amorphis), Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy/Pain), Howard Jones (Devil You Know/ex-Killswitch Engage) and few others. But I think Chris Forsberg has very good chances to be a part of this group. He improved a lot since the last album "Alive" but he still needs a bit more power in his clean vocals, but all in all, he is a very versatile and wonderful vocalist.
Even though all songs on the album are in the same style and remind me a lot of bands like Killswitch Engage or In Flames, each one is unique in its way. There are a lot of tempo changes, so the music doesn't get boring. In one moment, there is a catchy or even a poppy chorus and suddenly it changes to a brutal and heavy guitar riff.
Songs like "Conform With Me" and "Burn" makes me want to see Sarea live. They know how to write music you just want to sing along, dance or headbang to. Live, the band seems to be pure energy. You can also see this on the music video to the single "Downfall" (which you can find below).
All in all I can say that Sarea outdid themselves with this album. And I am sure they will again in the future. So be sure to remember their name.
"Downfall" video
