Felskinn – Enter The Light

Felskinn

Enter The Light

by Phil Tyler at 05 April 2022, 11:02 PM

FELSKINN  are a Swiss Melodic Metal band who have been around for over 15 years. “Enter The Light” is their fourth album and second released through ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records.

I’ve never actually heard of the band so I was looking forward to listening to some Melodic Metal and the band doesn’t disappoint.

Synths and vocoder vocals open “Darkness In Your Eyes” before speeding off into a fast paced chugging riff. The clear vocals are very good and it’s an enjoyable song with a great lead solo. Tom and Martin’s guitar playing complement each other very well, the drums boom and the production overall is excellent.

Though the lyrics are a bit twee; “Lord… send the angels down…” sings Andy on the chorus of “Send The Angels Down”, the song itself has a nice heavy verse and chorus and is very catchy.

“Enter the Light” is one of my favourite tracks and has a great squealing lead guitar intro and again a nice heavy track with a memorable chorus and really showcases the strength in Andy’s vocals. Some spoken word vocals add a different dynamic to the track before returning to the infectious chorus.

“Your Life is Mine” has an ELECTRIC BOYS vibe and grooves nicely with a chug riff and some cool background vocals.

Another favourite track of mine is “World Will End” which has a QUEENSRYCHE feel, particularly with the atmospheric intro and Andy’s vocals in parts. There’s some great dual vocals on the track and it has a strong chorus, some great lead guitar and ends on the atmospheric intro.

One of my favourite aspects of the band is the strength and variety in Andy’s vocals, showcased in the previous three tracks which all have a different feel. He’s ably complemented by some impressive musicianship but his vocals really carry the songs.

In “Driven” he sounds like JAMES LABRIE though the song isn’t as strong as the previous tracks.

Of course with any Melodic Metal band there has to be a ballad or two and FELSKINN’s longest track is the 6.00 power ballad “Lonely Heart” though it is propelled along on a chunky riff. It slows down to a crawl mid-way before a lead guitar carries the song forward to the chorus.

I liked this track though the following ballad “The Final Reason” is the weakest track:

“I found the final reason in the way you look above
I found the final reason in the miracle of love”

Two twee for me and it did make me cringe. Thankfully it’s a short track and apart from a decent lead solo, did nothing for me. They could have ditched this song to be honest.

To be fair though this is a minor misstep on what is an excellent, varied and well produced album. The final tracks offer further variety with the slow-fast chorus of “Where” and the foot-stomping (literally) in the intro of “SixFiveFour”.

A good test of how good an album is – after listening to it twice I would definitely listen to it again. If you like Melodic Metal, you should definitely check this out.

Songwriting: 8
Musicianship: 9
Memorability: 8
Production: 9