Felskinn is a melodic heavy metal band from Switzerland founded in 2005 by vocalist Andy Portmann – the band releasing four albums – ‘Felskinn’ (2006), ‘Listen!’ (2007), ‘Mind Over Matter’ (2008), and 2022’s ‘Enter The Light’.
Melding traditional heavy metal with mild aggression and a massive melodious edge, Felskinn presents their new album, bursting at the seams with twelve barnstormers over a fifty-minute run time. Blazing into sight ‘Enter The Light’ (the album) is off to an absolute flyer with the fast and furious ‘Darkness In Your Eyes’. The energy and oomph is off the fucking charts, with ‘Darkness In Your Eyes’ a melodic monster to get your pulse racing. What a song, and what a way to kick off your new album. The energy level remains high, even though the pace drops a gear for ‘Send The Angels Down’ – a hard-hitting and punchy metal come rock number with one helluva sing-along style chorus. The band, mixing up their style of music over the first two album offerings, then slam the listeners with the heavy metal power of the title song ‘Enter The Light’. Imagine a Judas Maiden, or an Iron Priest – the combination of two of the greatest metal bands in history – and that right there is the sound of ‘Enter The Light’ (the song). Felskinn delivers a sound that is gonna excite and delight every metalhead around the world.
Maintaining the punchy nature of the previous song, Felskinn moves in a slightly alternative almost progressive direction for ‘Your Life Is Mine’ – bringing back a memory of mid-nineties’ Subhuman Race’ era Skid Row. The variety over the album’s first third is incredible, making me wonder just what the remaining two-thirds have in store. I’m intrigued. And is that ballad territory we’re entering? Seems like it – for ‘World Will End’ has a ballad style opening, building toward a more hymn-like style. But there’s just too much crunch to ‘World Will End’ to call it a ballad, although lighters held high in the air wouldn’t be inappropriate – Felskinn straddling the borders of metal and rock to bring you some awesome tunes. And talking of awesome tunes, ‘Driven’ is a heavy hitter that harks back to my earlier memory of Skid Row. And whoa, what a change in pace! ‘Driven’ switching gears to become fast and furious…and then hitting the brakes sharply to resume the song’s initial mid-tempo swagger. Is there no style of metal and rock this Swiss outfit can’t deliver! Death and black metal most likely, but they are capable of a seamless transition between many other styles, turning the heat up once more and galloping on with the lively ‘The Saviour Was Born’. A definite “get the party started” vibe, ‘The Saviour Was Born’ is a head-nodder, a foot-tapper, and an all-round great song.
Moving into heavier territory, ‘Life Beyond The Line’ shows a little bit of aggression as it hammers the airways with a pounding rhythm. The punch is that of a heavyweight, hitting hard with every swing – ‘Life Beyond The Line’ maintaining the album’s intense and relentless drive – turning heads wherever it is played. Moving forward with a heavy foot stomp and the aura of a power ballad, ‘Lonely Heart’ is a majestic stroll of hard-hitting rock. Never truly landing in ballad territory, ‘Lonely Heart’ manages to create an atmosphere of lighters in the air and swaying from side to side, right alongside the army of head-nodding rockers. Felskinn really is a master of melding so many different styles of rock and metal that you just haven’t a clue where the band will take you next. And that’s what makes ‘Enter The Light’ (the album) such a “can’t stop listening to” album.
And now we’ve got a dose of soft rock thrown in – ‘The Final Reason’ while still delivered on a bed of metal covered in hard rock, has the airy and fresh feel of soft rock. The melodious streak that runs through this album from start to finish remains unbroken, ‘The Final Reason’ attracting fans from a wide-ranging metal and rock background. And back to the band’s root melodic heavy metal sound, we go with the high kicking ‘Where’ – a very much hustle and bustle kind of song that just oozes energy. The energy which the band seemingly has in abundance. The final song ‘SixFiveFour’, sees the band move in yet another musical direction, totally different from anything heard previously. So much so, that I had to do an extra bit of research to make sure ‘SixFiveFour’ was a Felskinn original! Finding nothing to suggest otherwise, the band delivers an anthemic blockbuster. The sing-along chant style chorus is gonna be loved by an in concert audience – Felskinn ending their fourth album with a rousing cracker.
Overall, a myriad of metal and rock styles, Felskinn delivers twelve very different songs over an enthralling fifty minutes.
TRACKLIST
Darkness In Your Eyes
Send The Angels Down
Enter The Light
Your Life Is Mine
World Will End
Driven
The Saviour Was Born
Life Beyond The Line
Lonely Heart
The Final Reason
Where
SixFiveFour
Felskinn: Facebook
Release Year: 2022
Label: ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records
Category: Album
Country: Switzerland
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire, Metal Gods TV, and Metal-Roos.
